Dubai: Jet manufacturers Airbus and Boeing announced a raft of orders on the first day of Britain’s Farnborough Airshow, despite production woes as the industry grapples with high demand.
Boeing, the embattled US aviation giant, scored a bumper deal with Korean Air, inking a firm order for 20 777-9 widebody jets—which have yet to be certified—and 20 787-10 Dreamliners. The purchase, including an option for ten extra 787 aircraft, is worth more than $15 billion at list prices.
Korean Air CEO Walter Cho said, “We are working on the new designs right now. We are always pursuing the best customer experience and comfort." The Seoul-based carrier expects the first delivery ‘on time’ in 2028. The Boeing 777-9 has just begun certification flights and could be authorised to fly passengers by 2025 at the earliest, five years behind schedule.
Boeing also formalised a purchase from Japan Air Lines for 10 Dreamliner 787-9s, with options for another 10 jets, in a deal worth almost $3 billion flagged in March.
"Boeing and Japan Air Lines have a very long and enduring relationship, even through difficult and challenging times," said Yukio Nakagawa, JAL's executive officer for procurement at Farnborough.
Boeing also revealed an order from Luxembourg-based carrier Luxair for two 737 MAX-10s, a version of its best-selling single-aisle jet that still needed to be certified. US group National Airlines placed a firm order for four 777-200 widebody cargo planes to tap into global e-commerce, AFP has reported.
Meanwhile, Drukair - Royal Bhutan Airlines, the national carrier of Bhutan, signed a MoU with Airbus for 3 A320neo and 2 A321XLR aircraft.
The new aircraft is anticipated to start delivery in 2030. Drukair already operates four Airbus A320 Family aircraft: three A319s and one A320.
Tandi Wangchuk, Drukair CEO, said, “We are thrilled to embark on this new chapter in Drukair’s history, which dovetails perfectly with the development of the Gelephu Mindfulness City and work to expand the Gelephu airport.”
More orders in the coming days?
Aside from these orders, Virgin Atlantic is close to placing a top-up order for Airbus A330neos and Flynas, a Saudi low-cost carrier, is poised to order up to 30 of the same widebody aircraft, Reuters reported, citing industry sources.
Earlier this month, Cebu Pacific (CEB) signed an MoU with Airbus to purchase up to 152 A321neo aircraft for $24 billion based on list prices, the largest aircraft order in Philippine aviation history.
The MOU covers firm orders for up to 102 A321neo, plus 50 A320neo Family purchase rights.
“The order is designed to provide Cebu Pacific with maximum flexibility to adapt fleet growth to market conditions, with the ability to switch between the A321neo and A320neo,” said CEB CEO Michael Szucs. “When finalised, the deal will be a significant milestone for the local airline industry and a testament to CEB’s unwavering commitment to supporting the Philippine growth story,” he added.
The purchase agreement to finalise this transaction is expected to be completed in the year's third quarter.
Airlines need more planes
Airbus and Boeing are striving to fix production problems to fulfil orders for nearly 15,000 aircraft, an 18 per cent year-on-year increase.
"We have an incredibly strong backlog. We're sold out until the end of this decade," said Stephanie Pope, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The orders come amid Airbus’ struggles to meet its production goals and Boeing’s ongoing safety crisis—which was sparked by a door panel falling off a 737 MAX jet in January.
On Monday, Emirates' flydubai issued a critical response to Boeing's delivery delays, urging the manufacturer to take immediate action and implement measures to stabilise its production and delivery processes to avoid further delays.
The Dubai-based carrier announced that no new aircraft will join its fleet for the remainder of the year following the latest update it received from the manufacturer. Airline CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith said, “We are extremely disappointed to learn that Boeing will not be able to fulfil its commitment to deliver more aircraft for the remainder of the year."
Guillaume Faury, the CEO of Airbus, also informed reporters on Sunday that the aircraft manufacturer was making headway in increasing the output of its most advanced passenger jets.
