Deal wheel keeps spinning on 2nd day of Dubai Airshow

On the second day of the ongoing, five-day Dubai Airshow at Al Maktoum International Airport, United Arab Emirates (UAE) saw a flood of local and international announcements and deals in aviation, but the industry failed to deliver another "mega-deal."

UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum inaugurated Monday at the airshow the Emirates Flight Training Academy. Emirates said in e-mailed statement the academy is set to offer "next-generation pilot training relying on innovation and partnership with industry training organizations."

Low-cost carrier Air Arabia signed a contract to lease six Airbus A321neo LR (Long Range) aircraft, "which will be delivered from 2019 onward," said the UAE low cost carrier's CEO Adel Ali.

The six new long-haul planes shall boost Air Arabia's network on East Asia, "we eye destinations which are eight hours away from the UAE," said Ali.

After Dubai's Emirates Airline bought 40 Boeing 787-10 aircraft for 15.1 billion U.S. dollars on Sunday, analysts expected European rival Airbus to "counter-attack" by striking a major deal for its flagship A380 "Superjumbo," but no sales of the A380 or the A350 were announced.

Kuwait-based Alafco, a global provider of commercial aircraft leasing products, finalized an order for 20 additional 737 MAX 8s, doubling the lessor's order book for the MAX airplane. Alafco now has 40 Boeing 737 MAXs on order after the firm announced the lease.

The deal, valued at 2.2 billion dollars at current list prices, was announced as a commitment at the Paris Air Show earlier in June this year.

Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has appointed Abu Dhabi Aviaiton (ADA) as an authorized customer service facility for Bell 412s and Bell 212s.

ADA, which has been working with Bell for 40 years, provides aviation offshore oil support and other aviation services, such as VIP air transport, globally.

Italy's Leonardo said that ADA has also signed a contract for two additional AW139 intermediate twin engine helicopters. The aircraft will be used to perform offshore transport mission with deliveries expected in 2017, further expanding ADA's AW139 fleet which today accounts of 15 units in service primarily supporting the oil and gas industry. Seven percent of the world's known oil reserves are located under the sands and seas of Abu Dhabi.

British Secretary of State for International Trade, Liam Fox, today witnessed the signing of a groundbreaking new joint venture between British target manufacturer QinetiQ and Middle East General Enterprises.

The deal will see "the UK-based firm to invest in the development of both infrastructure and training capability designed to enable a new Emirati workforce to provide the skilled manufacture of maritime, land and air targets," both for use by the UAE armed forces and for export around the wider region, the two sides said in an e-mailed statement.

Managing Director International at QinetiQ, Ian Farley, said "for us, this is a real statement of intent to invest in the UAE to transfer knowledge so that we can hire new recruits and develop local Emiratis."

Dubai Airport Free Zone signed with the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority an agreement to jointly implement blockchain technology in order to upgrade the IT infrastructure around Dubai international Airport.

The five-day 2017 Dubai Airshow runs through Thursday.