Agence France Presse

Le Bourget, June 13:

The Paris Air Show swung open its doors today with Airbus and Boeing on centre stage locked in a fierce global struggle for aeronautic supremacy French president Jac-ques Chirac inaugurated the weeklong show at Le Bourget Airport, north of Paris, where Airbus’s new super-jumbo A380, the world’s largest airliner, took star billing. As the show got under way, the WTO in Geneva was set to begin hearing competing complaints from Airbus and Boeing in their dispute. Chirac and other officials were to view the huge double-deck plan-e’s first flying display.