DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The biennial Dubai Airshow has opened its doors, showcasing the latest and newest aircraft in the fast-growing fleet of Gulf carriers.

Dubai-based Emirates displayed on Sunday its 68th brand new double decker A380 aircraft, which was delivered directly from Airbus to the airshow site. Qatar Airways is displaying three of its aircraft, the A380, A350 and a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Unlike the last airshow in 2013, no major purchases were announced yet. In 2013, purchases of Boeing and Airbus planes worth more than $140 billion were announced.

The Dubai Airshow is seen as an increasingly important barometer on the state of the aviation industry and the rising roles of the big-spending Gulf carriers as they compete for routes and critical stopover traffic between Asia and Europe and to the Americas.