Airbus Seeks Extended Warm Reception

Airbus did manage to snag an A350 order last week, as Russian airline Aeroflot signed a preliminary agreement to buy 22 aircraft. As part of the deal, EADS agreed to give 5% of the work on the plane to Russian companies. Kasper noted that the arrangement reflects a political agreement between "statist economies" in France and the former Soviet Union. Still, an order is an order.

Consultant Scott Hamilton, who publishes an online newsletter about aircraft manufacturers, called the A380 tour "a great PR campaign" but said Airbus has work to do before prospects for the A350 can be regarded as promising.

"This was a great PR tour and the A380, without a doubt, is a really nice airplane," Hamilton said. "But it has yet to go into service, and the A350 is even further away from going into service, and until it does everybody will be wondering if Airbus will have the same sort of [delays] with the A350 as with the A380."