FARNBOROUGH, England, July 25 (Reuters) - The world's

largest air show fizzled out on Thursday with a solid new Saudi

jetliner order unable to dispel the gloom over recent problems

in producing planes fast enough to meet demand.

Britain's Farnborough Airshow opened earlier this week amid

alarm signals from airlines over falling yields or average

fares. But delegates said they remained above historic levels

and although quiet, the show confirmed demand for wide-body

jets.

Airbus and Boeing ( BA ) posted about 40 firm orders - a fraction

of recent years - and were roughly level depending on whether

Qatar Airways' decision to come forward as the previously

unnamed buyer for an existing Boeing ( BA ) order was counted.

Including preliminary new orders, Airbus pulled ahead after

announcing a deal on Thursday for 90 planes including 15

A330neos from Saudi carrier Flynas. Reuters reported talks with

Flynas on the model ahead of the show.

There was none of the triumphalism seen at past events with

both major planemakers recognising they had other pressing

issues, including the inability of factories to keep up with

recent demand because of disruption left over from the pandemic.

"Almost everyone plays to the rhythm. But all it takes is

one piece of the puzzle that's missing and the puzzle is not

complete," Airbus planemaking CEO Christian Scherer told

Reuters. "We have 4,000 suppliers that flow into one plane."

With the VIP chalets pulling down the shutters on a rainy

and subdued air show, with only a drizzle of new aircraft

orders, the exhibition halls where the global supply chain sets

up shop for the week were still humming with activity.

Inside the temporary bazaar, suggestions from manufacturers

that the whole supply chain bears responsibility for the

industry's manufacturing woes were far from popular.

"Did they tell you who broke it?" said a senior executive

with a company that makes small engine parts.

Many suppliers blame relentless cost cuts or wobbly

production targets for weakening the supply chain.

Fewer than half of suppliers believe industry production

targets will be achieved on time, according to a McKinsey and

Aviation Week survey released during the show.

"Everyone needs more machinists but the (manufacturers)

sometimes have a clunky way of approving new suppliers," said

Paul Marshall, sales director at family-owned UK precision

milling firm B-Tech, which saw increased demand at the show.

The final day of the event on Friday was due to be devoted

entirely to a crisis over the hiring of new workers after many

employees left or retired early during the pandemic - taking

with them skills and experience badly needed to boost output.

PARTNERSHIPS

The immediate focus of investment is in repair capacity for

existing planes, where long waiting times have forced airlines

to leave jets grounded just when they are needed in the summer.

GE Aerospace said it would invest over $1 billion

over five years in its maintenance facilities worldwide.

The focus on short-term supply concerns did not prevent one

or two players previewing their next moves in a battle that is

just getting started over new long-term airplane developments.

Engine and planemakers are jockeying for position ahead of

the next round of single-aisle planes expected next decade,

replacing the workhorse Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 models.

Rolls-Royce took a further step towards re-entering a slice

of the market which it had abandoned over a decade ago, saying

it is making a smaller version of its Ultrafan demonstrator.

Brazilian regional planemaker Embraer ( ERJ ), left

isolated after the breakdown of alliance talks with Boeing ( BA ) in

2020, reiterated it was looking for an international partner to

try in future to challenge the Airbus and Boeing ( BA ) duopoly.

"I think we've been very clear on partnerships, we're

looking at China, we're looking at India, we're looking at

Turkey, we're looking at Morocco, we're looking at Saudi," Arjan

Meijer, Embraer Commercial Aviation CEO, told Reuters.

South Korea has also been approached, industry sources said.

Boeing ( BA ) had a mainly uneventful show: an outcome seen as a

success for a company mired in bad headlines in recent months,

and branded directionless by industry commentators as it seeks a

new CEO following a mid-air 737 MAX 9 panel blowout in January.

Airlines and suppliers said the industry needs Boeing ( BA ) to

recover and some expressed frustration that the company's crisis

continued, five years after the second of two fatal MAX crises

that cost it billions of dollars and shattered its reputation.

Even rival Airbus has complained about the negative impact

on the overall industry of Boeing's ( BA ) difficulties.

"I hope whatever they are doing is the right cure for what

the problem is, but we want it to be consistent," said Ghaith

al-Ghaith, CEO of Dubai-based flydubai, a major customer.

"We don't want to hear 'more delays.' We want them to be the

Boeing ( BA ) of old times that we trust."

(Additional reporting by Joanna Plucinska, Abhijith

Ganapavaram, Joe Brock; editing by Chizu Nomiyama)