Aeronautics: the big shots of Airbus at the Dubai show

Europe 1 with AFP 6.30 p.m., November 15, 2021

Serial success for Airbus.

The European aircraft manufacturer hit hard by winning on Sunday a grouped order for 255 A321 single-aisle planes by four companies for the opening of the Dubai air show, the first on a scale since the start of the pandemic.

With this announcement, the aircraft manufacturer confirms the ascendancy taken over its American rival Boeing, which only came with an order.

On Monday, the American lessor Air Lease signed a letter of intent for the purchase of 111 Airbus of all types, announced the European aircraft manufacturer.

A first order of more than 33 billion dollars

The Airbus mega-order, won on Sunday, comes from four airlines belonging to the American investment company specializing in air transport, Indigo Partners. In detail, 102 aircraft are intended for the Hungarian low-cost company Wizz Air, 91 for the low-cost American Frontier Airlines, 39 for the Mexican Volaris and 23 for the Chilean Jetsmart, according to a press release from the European aircraft manufacturer.

The order value amounts to more than 33 billion dollars (nearly 29 billion euros) according to the last list price published in 2018 by the aircraft manufacturer, a rate almost never applied.

The actual amount of the transaction was not disclosed.

In fact, such a group order allows buyers to obtain an attractive price, agreed Guillaume Faury the executive chairman of Airbus during the signing ceremony, for whom it is "give and take".

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First deliveries from 2025

Deliveries will take place from 2025. Despite a rebound this summer, global air traffic is only half what it was before the crisis and should only return to its 2019 level between 2023 and 2025 The segment of single-aisle aircraft and medium-haul routes, less subject to traffic restrictions than long-distance journeys, is set to restart first.

"We want to be positioned early for the recovery," said Bill Franke, boss of Indigo Partners.

Of the 255 A321 aircraft, 29 are of the future XLR model, a so-called "very long range" single-aisle capable of carrying out long-haul routes traditionally reserved for large aircraft (B777, A350) but also medium-sized flights. traditional mail.

The A321 XLR, launched in 2019 and 2023, is having great commercial success, according to Airbus.

It is also a problem for Boeing, which has no aircraft to oppose it.

New move from the second day

More generally, this order confirms the growing interest of airlines for the A321, which now represents nearly 60% of orders for A320 family aircraft (A319, A320 and A321). Moreover, the American lessor Air Lease Corporation (ALC) has signed a letter of intent for the purchase of 111 Airbus of all types, including the first examples of the future cargo version of its long-haul A350, announced the European aircraft manufacturer. This order, "which must be finalized in the coming months", covers single-aisle aircraft with 25 A220s and 75 A321s, as well as four long-haul A330s and seven A350Fs, of which ALC becomes the launch customer, Airbus said in a statement. press release, on the second day of the Dubai Airshow.

The European aircraft manufacturer has many years of production ahead of it with more than 7,500 single-aisle aircraft in its order book.

Another good news for the European: the order by the Emirates of two A330 MRTT refueling aircraft for its Air Force, which will bring its fleet to five aircraft.

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A step ahead of the American Boeing

In the face of this, Boeing kept a low profile on Sunday with the announcement of a contract with Icelandic lessor Icelandic to convert eleven 737 single-aisle aircraft to cargo planes. This order therefore does not involve the construction of new aircraft. It illustrates an appetite of global carriers for air freight. Global cargo traffic in September exceeded its 2019 level by more than 9%, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata).

Boeing says it anticipates a need for 1,720 conversions from passenger planes to cargo planes over the next twenty years and has already obtained “more than 200 orders and intentions from 19 customers”.

For its part, ATR, the European manufacturer of regional aircraft, took advantage of the first day of the show to announce the order for seven ATR-72s for the Spanish company Binter Canarias (four aircraft) and the Romanian Tarom (three aircraft).