Airbus bags Saudi order as Franco-Israeli dispute rocks air show
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Airbus bagged a $3.5 billion plane order from Saudi Arabia's AviLease on the opening day of the Paris Airshow on Monday, as a diplomatic dispute erupted over France's decision to shut down four Israeli stands for displaying deadly weapons.
Delegates expect this year's iteration of the world's biggest aviation trade show to see less business than usual, partly due to last week's deadly crash of an Air India Boeing 787 and also because Boeing racked up huge deals during U.S. President Donald Trump's recent tour of the Middle East.
Tensions between long-standing allies France and Israel flared up as the show was getting underway, when Paris ordered the main four Israeli company stands to be closed down when they refused to remove offensive weapons from display.
Israel's ministry of defence condemned the move as "outrageous and unprecedented" and accused France of trying to shield its companies from Israeli competition.