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Kerosene, the fuel used to power planes, is distilled from crude oil, which surged to a historic peak above $147 a barrel on world markets last Friday.
Soaring fuel costs are causing airlines to collapse as they push up inflation and contribute to weaker economic growth around the world, and in the case of Denmark, a recession.
The week-long Farnborough airshow outside London is a traditional battle ground for planemakers, especially European aerospace giant Airbus and its US rival Boeing, for securing orders of new aircraft.
The biennial event was set to attract the usual mix of industry executives and plane enthusiasts.
Boeing was set to make an orders announcement at 09:30 GMT, ahead of flight displays by civil and military jets in the afternoon.
Surging oil price, creating more opportunites
Surging oil prices are an "opportunity" which will advance orders for new, more fuel-efficient aircraft, the chief executive of Boeing, James McNerney, said in an interview published on Sunday.
"The high price of oil is speeding up the process of the oldest, least efficient planes being taken out of service because they are no longer profitable," he told the French weekly Journal du Dimanche.
Oil-producing Gulf states were expected to make large deals for commercial planes at Farnborough thanks to extra revenue generated from soaring crude prices.
Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, has said it is likely to announce orders of between 50 and 100 aircraft at the event, but did not reveal which ones.
But analysts warn that publicly owned airlines in countries suffering from inflation, the credit crunch and slowing or negative economic growth, may find it difficult to afford big deals at the air show.
More airlines losing business this year
In the first six months of this year, 25 airlines went bust or ceased operating and more could fold as fuel prices continued to rise, a spokesperson for aviation industry association IATA said last week.
Canadian planemaker Bombardier stole the limelight ahead of the latest show - announcing on Sunday that it planned to launch its eco-friendly CSeries single-aisle passenger jet in 2013 - a plane it promised would "deliver dramatic energy savings."
German carrier Lufthansa said it was interested in buying 30 CSeries jets in the role of launch-customer, adding it could increase the order to 60 which would earn Bombardier a total of $2.8bn.
Nico Buchholz, senior vice president, corporate fleet, Lufthansa, said Bombardier's CSeries would meet the German airline's "stringent requirements for sustainable fleet development, both in terms of environmental and commercial requirements, and flexibility for the future."
Bombardier said it had received "significant interest" worldwide regarding the new plane.
Other fuel-efficient commercial planes already being flown or awaiting their launch include the Airbus A380 superjumbo and mid-sized A350, as well as Boeing's Dreamliner.
- AFP
