PARIS -- The main story at the world's biggest air showcase hasn't changed this year: The trans-Atlantic rivalry between Boeing Co. and Airbus again will dominate the 47th Paris Air Show, which opens today at Le Bourget, north of the French capital.
    In contrast to the last Paris show in 2005 when Airbus shone, the European plane maker will be struggling to regain ground from its American rival.
    "The show falls at a good point in the cycle for the airline industry," said Pierre Boucheny, an analyst with Kepler Equities in Paris. "Plane orders are increasing on the back of global economic growth. That might help Airbus catch up a little with Boeing."
    After two years in the red, the commercial airline industry will make a profit of more than $5 billion this year, despite rising fuel costs, says the International Air Transport Association, whose 250 members claim to represent 94 percent of international air traffic.
    The event's anticipated success shows that the airline industry is in "globally good shape," Charles Edelstenne, president of French aerospace industry group GIFAS, said at a briefing about the show earlier this month.
    Airbus and Boeing will be fighting over high-profile orders. Airlines often reserve big announcements for the weeklong fair to ensure maximum effect.
    At the 2005 show, Airbus announced orders worth $33.5 billion, double Boeing's $15 billion, based on list prices that usually are discounted.
    "Since the last show, Boeing has got well back into the game," said Christophe Quarante, a Natexis Bleichroeder analyst in Paris.
    Two years have made a huge difference to both companies' fortunes. Boeing reclaimed the top sales spot last year, winning more orders than Airbus for the first time since 2000 after the introduction of a hot new plane -- the 787 Dreamliner -- and a revamped sales team that was freed to offer discounts.
    Confidence began returning to the American plane maker after upheavals in 2004 and 2005, including the removal of two top executives and defense contracting scandals that sent two other senior officials to prison.
    Meanwhile, Airbus' management began to attract negative attention. A series of increasingly worrying announcements, beginning in June 2005, revealed missteps, technical setbacks, communication failures and financial improprieties that tarnished the plane maker's image.
    The result: an overhaul of top executives and a restructuring plan that foresees 10,000 job cuts over four years, not to mention billions of dollars in lost profit. The setbacks saddled Airbus with its first-ever loss last year and slashed net profit at parent group EADS.