UAE. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways plans to announce engine orders valued at about US$6.7 billion including service at the Paris Air Show, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The engines are for 100 Airbus SAS and Boeing aircraft announced at the Farnborough International Air Show last year, said the people, who asked not be identified before an official announcement this week.

General Electric beat Rolls-Royce Group in getting contracts for 35 of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners, while the US supplier’s Engine Alliance venture with United Technologies Pratt & Whitney will provide engines for 10 superjumbo A380s, two of the people said.

International Aero Engines, a venture led by Pratt & Whitney and London-based Rolls-Royce, won an order to power 20 A320 aircraft, they said.

While airframe makers work to keep contracts they already have, engine manufacturers are fighting for wins from the few areas of the world with cash to spend, such as the Middle East. Orders, especially for larger ones, can lag airframe contracts as carriers weigh options such as including engines with common parts to make maintenance less expensive.

Etihad Chief Executive Officer James Hogan is scheduled to host two press conferences on 16 June in Le Bourget, where the biennial Paris Air Show is held, according to an invitation.

The engine orders may reach about US$13 billion if another 105 aircraft options are exercised, one of the people said. The planes are to be delivered between 2011 and 2020.

GE, the only engine provided on Boeing’s 777-ER model, will supply 10 of those aircraft, while Rolls-Royce is the only current provider of engines for the A350. Etihad ordered 25 planes of that model.

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