Christian Scherer, the chief commercial officer at Airbus, reacted to the Air India tragedy ahead of the Paris Air Show.

PARIS (Reuters) -The Paris Airshow opens on Monday with its usual fanfare of aircraft orders expected to be tempered by concerns over India’s deadliest air disaster and escalating missile strikes between Israel and Iran that have rattled the global aviation industry.

Airbus SE has urged the aviation industry to enhance its safety culture following a tragic Air India crash involving a Boeing 787, underscoring the incident as a critical wake-up call rather than a competitive advantage.

Safety is in everything that we do, so the tragedy in India, we don’t see that in any way, shape or form as a competitive input,” Christian Scherer, who oversees Airbus’s commercial aircraft operation,

India has emerged as a significant player in the global aircraft market. Since 2023, Air India has ordered 570 aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing. Meanwhile, IndiGo has ordered over 900 Airbus planes, which now includes an additional acquisition of 60 A350 widebody jets.

The top supply chain executive at planemaker Airbus , procurement chief Juergen Westermeier, has been appointed to run the group's operations in India and South Asia from Sept 1, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

Air India, in its current form, has maintained a more balanced fleet, having taken delivery of 122 Boeing aircraft and 114 Airbus planes between 2006 and 2025