Feature: The 49th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget quickly turned into an Airbus show as the European aircraft manufacturer shattered records to rack up $72.2 billion worth of business for a total of 730 aircraft sales. Boeing could claim orders and commitments for only 142 airplanes worth $22 billion at the air show.

Airbus at Paris Air Show

The star of Airbus’ record haul was the A320neo, which earned 667 commitments worth some $60.9 billion. The 150-seater A320neo (new engine option) was launched last year and offers 15 percent more fuel savings as compared to other single-aisle planes.

With even AMR now talking to Airbus for 100 new single-aisle planes, Boeing has to think fast about whether to re-engineer its 737 or go for broke with a new jet, which likely can’t be made available until at least 2020.

The only bright spot for Boeing was that it got to show off its 787 Dreamliner and 747-8 Freighter.

The Paris air show also witnessed a breakthrough of sorts in jet biofuel with successful trans-Atlantic biofuel flights, an agreement between a core group of airlines to buy jet biofuel and KLM’s announcement of Amsterdam-Paris commercial biofuel flights.

Airbus with new order record at Paris Air Show 2011 – Airbus.com
AMR said to be in talks for 100 Airbus jets in shift from Boeing - Businessweek
Fuel savings spur orders at air show - WSJ
ATA airlines sign negotiation letters of intent for biomass-derived jet fuel – Airlines.org
Hypersonic dreams fly at Paris airshow - Wired.com

Here’s the rest of the week’s interesting news:

HITEC: Capture guests at the seven travel planning points – HNN
HITEC: Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook: ”Traveling is one of the most social purchases someone can make.” – LHOnline

Sabre loses bid to stop American Airlines from seeking injunction – Bloomberg
Titus Johnson, Air Berlin: Legal scrap between GDSs and airlines “will help” – ABTN
American Airlines and Air Berlin expand codeshare agreement – AA.com

Virgin America names plane after Twitter hashtag - Gadling (meet #nerdbird on Facebook)
Loopt’s first u-Deal ($35 Virgin America travel voucher) sold out in 48 minutes – Loopt

Ideeli launches flash sale travel channel powered by Voyage Privé - ideeli.com
Spire launches with members-only rates for hotels – Spire.com

Traxo launches “Traxo Travel Score” - Traxo.com
Foursquare tops 10 million users (and they’re happy, too) - PCMag

A halt to the hotel humdrums - Portfolio.com
A few tips from the founder of Hotels.com - Business Insider

InterContinental launches 7 new apps to drive same-day bookings - AllThingsD
Survey reveals mobile a top priority for lodging owners - TripAdvisor

Expedia nears TripAdvisor spin-off filing - WSJ
What drove Expedia’s facebook fans past 1 million? - AllFacebook

Photo – Airbus

Related posts:
Airbus Forecast – Demand for 26,000 Planes Valued at $3.2 Trillion
FAA, USDA Team up for Commercializing Aviation Biofuels
TravelTechnology Weekly – NASA’s 2025 Vision, OTA Solidarity…

mobile computing heaven

The race is on.

The Westin St. Francis in San Francisco’s Union Square is among the first hoteliers to sign up with LodgeNet Interactive Corporation to implement its Mobile Internet Devices and integrate them into their own hospitality system.

In English, this means Westin guests can order in-room dining, book a spa appointment, make golf reservations, sign up for their reward program points and even change the in-room temperature and electricity controls through their iPhones and Blackberries. Basically, guests’ smart phones replace the concierge function, which will no doubt trigger a rebuttal from the National Concierge Association. But let’s face it: the name of the game has always been “be relevant or be run over.”

The project is in the pilot stages this summer; LodgeNet says it should roll out more test markets between now and the end of 2009. Anyone who wants to see this technology in action can stop by the company’s booth at HITEC at the Anaheim Convention Center June 23 – 25.

It’s a smart move for anyone who read the American Hotel and Lodging Association’s 2008 study on customer satisfaction. A whopping 82 percent of guests say they care most about their wi-fi services, even over in-room entertainment systems and airline check-in kiosks.

Which could explain why Omni Hotels — the first luxury hotel brand to give guests free wireless access in their rooms — is focusing more on the basics. It signed with BelAir Networks to upgrade its network design to accommodate mobile computing. “With nearly 50 percent of our guests using wi-fi and their bandwidth demands continuing to accelerate, we sought a high-performance network partner” says Richard Tudgay, Omni’s IT veep.

Photography: Westin St. Francis