Airbus is expected to reveal new aircraft orders worth more than $20 billion (£10.2 billion) at the Paris Air Show this week, but there will be a sense of déjà vu in many of the company’s announcements.

The aircraft maker is hoping to use the Paris show, which opens today at Le Bourget aerodrome in the suburbs of Paris, to gather momentum for its A350XWB, a mid-sized competitor for Boeing’s popular 787 Dreamliner.

Airbus is expected to sign contracts with Qatar Airways for 80 of the $200 million jets and with Aer Lingus, the Irish carrier, for six jets. Other possible deals include US Airways and Aeroflot for about 20 aircraft each.

These orders will be welcomed by Rolls-Royce, which is supplying the A350XWB’s engines. The Qatar deal alone would be worth more than £1 billion and give Rolls’s 2007 sales a much-needed boost. Rolls has won just 4 per cent of new engine orders so far this year.

However, these orders are anything but new. Qatar signed a letter of intent to buy the A350XWBs last month and first signalled its plan to buy at least 60 jets at the Farnborough Air Show last year. Paris and Farnborough take turns to host the European show.

The last time that Paris held the air show, in 2005, Airbus launched the original A350, but the design proved unpopular with airlines and uncompetitive compared with Boeing’s 787, so it was relaunched last year as the XWB (Extra Wide Body).

Airbus is in the process of converting the 100 orders that it took for the old A350 and most of this week’s announcements are likely to be swaps.

This will not stop Airbus making a big fuss over each “new” order, as the company is desperate to “win” the Paris show with the highest number of new orders after 18 months during which costs on the key A380 project have risen to an estimated $18 billion and the news that the aircraft will be delivered two years late.

Furthermore, some analysts are suggesting that Boeing may “win” the show, even though it does not store up sales for air shows, thanks to some lucky timing. The International Lease Financing Corporation is close to confirming up to 50 orders for the 787, and Qatar Airlines is thought to be close to confirming 30 orders for the 787. If both of these are confirmed this week, Boeing will “win” Paris, giving Airbus a bloody nose in its own backyard.

Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners, said: “For Airbus the 2007 show will be a far cry from that of either 2003 or 2005 in terms of orders. Boeing will likely come out as the star of the show.”

Among the other exhibitors in Paris, there will be interest in manufacturers from Eastern Europe. Antonov, which is based in Ukraine, plans a relaunch, while Sukhoi, the Russian aircraft manufacturer, will be talking about its move into the regional jet market.

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