US planemaker Boeing and European rival Airbus announced new commercial orders on Tuesday, the second day of the Farnborough Air Show, still marked by the heatwave hitting the UK.
This discreet Monday for the opening of the event, Airbus has secured an order for 12 A220 aircraft from Delta, raising the fleet of this small single-aisle aircraft destined for its domestic routes to 107 aircraft for the American airline.
This contract has a value of almost 1,100 million dollars according to the last list price communicated by Airbus, but never applied in reality.
12 A220s for Airbus
The aircraft, A220-300 with a capacity of 130 seats, will be delivered from 2026.
Boeing, which had sought to impress on Monday thanks to a large order from Delta (100 737 MAX 10s, option for 30 additional purchases) and an order confirmation from Japanese airline ANA (20 MAX 8s, option for 10 additional purchases), continued his momentum.
In fact, the American fund 777 Partners has placed an order for a maximum of 66 Boeing 737 MAX, or about 8,000 million dollars at list price, to make them available to its low-cost companies.
The deal includes a firm order for 30 MAX 8-200s, the densified version of the MAX 8, as well as an option for an additional 36 models of the same aircraft family.
This purchase “marks a new step in the strong growth of our aviation business and, at the same time, in our partnership with Boeing,” Josh Wander, co-founder of 777 Partners, said in a press release.
The 737 MAX is refueling
“We are excited about the possibilities MAX brings to our growing number of airlines to facilitate and democratize low-cost travel around the world while delivering on our commitment to sustainable aviation,” added Mr. Wander.
Based in Miami, 777 Partners has in its portfolio the Canadian low-cost airline Flair Arlines, acquired in 2018, and its Australian rival Bonza Aviation, acquired in 2021 and whose first commercial flights will take place this year.
This is MAX’s fifth order for 777 Partners, bringing its single-aisle fleet to 134 aircraft.
The MAX 8 is Boeing’s medium-haul variant that experienced two fatal crashes in close succession, in October 2018 and March 2019, killing 346 people.
After the second accident, which suffered an Ethiopian Airlines plane, the MAX was on the ground for 20 months. It was cleared to return to service in late 2020.
787 Dreamliner Order Summary
On Tuesday, Irish aircraft leasing company AerCap agreed to buy five of the wide-body Boeing 787 family, a model whose last delivery dates back more than a year.
The aircraft ordered are the 787-9 version, with capacity for 296 passengers. At the catalog price, never applied in reality, the contract weighs 1,500 million dollars.
“We believe the 787 is an aircraft of the future. It is one of the most fuel-efficient aircraft in the world,” Peter Anderson, AerCap’s chief commercial officer, said at the signing ceremony with Boeing.
“We see an opportunity to extend a bet we made on the 787 some time ago,” added Mr. Anderson.
AerCap, which leases its planes to more than 300 companies including American, China Southern, Azul Brazilian and Air France, is the world’s largest customer of the 787 Dreamliner. The group now has 125 aircraft of this type to its credit or on order.
Most deliveries of this model have been discontinued since manufacturing defects were discovered in the summer of 2020. According to the Boeing site, the most recent 787 delivery dates back to June 2021 with one model delivered to Turkish Airlines.
Source: BFM TV
