Airbus and Boeing snap up deals as Qatar Airways weighs wide-body options

Delegates have been expecting limited deal-making this year

By Reuters

Published: Tue 23 Jul 2024, 5:41 PM

`More plane orders flowed in at the Farnborough Airshow on Tuesday despite supply chain pressures on jetmakers and complaints from airlines about delivery delays.

Airbus announced deals with Japan Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, while Boeing bagged an order from Macquarie Airfinance. Qatar Airways also held out the prospect of a “sizeable” order for wide-body jets around the turn of the year.

The British Red Arrows display team fly at the Farnborough International Airshow. — Reuters

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Delegates have been expecting limited deal-making at this year’s showcase aviation industry event, with Airbus and Boeing sold out for several years of production and struggling to ramp up output amid supply chain problems.

Delays in plane deliveries have limited some airlines’ ability to take advantage of a post-pandemic travel boom which some say is starting to fade.

“I think all of us on the airline side are slightly surprised by the long impact of Covid on the supply chain,” Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss told Reuters, as his airline ordered seven Airbus A330-900s in a deal worth $807 million, according to estimated delivery prices from Cirium Ascend. “We’re urging our ... engine suppliers, the manufacturers, to do everything they can to get back on track.”

An Airbus A321-XLR takes part in an air display. — AFP

Boeing in particular had to scale back production as it came under legal and regulatory scrutiny after a panel blew off mid-air on a near-new 737 MAX 9 in January.

Running planes for longer

Japan Airlines finalised an order for 20 Airbus A350-900 and 11 A321neo jets to be delivered from 2028, worth just over $3 billion in total, according to Cirium Ascend estimates.

The airline had said in March it would buy 21 wide-body A350s and 11 A321neo narrow-body jets, but it is only ordering 20 A350s now as it will receive one as a replacement for a jet destroyed in January in a collision with a Coast Guard aircraft.

A logo is seen on the Boeing stand. — AFP

Macquarie Airfinance, meanwhile, ordered 20 Boeing 737 MAX-8 planes to be delivered in 2029-2030, worth just over $1 billion, according Cirium Ascend estimates.

Also at the show, Qatar Airways CEO Badr al Meer said the airline would decide on a “sizeable” new order of wide-body jets around the end of this year or in the first quarter of 2025.

He added the company had also decided to extend the service life of its Airbus A380 jets and would carry out upgrades including new wifi.

Attendees view a Wisk autonomous electric air taxi. — Reuters

Airlines are increasingly looking to run existing planes for longer as jetmakers struggle to deliver on their order backlogs.

Consultancy Bain said in a report last week that airlines faced their longest ever waits for engine maintenance amid the shortfall in new aircraft, adding to their costs.

British Airways CEO Sean Doyle said at the air show that his airline was being “very vigilant” on new plane deliveries, but that at the moment “our planes are broadly coming in the timelines that we need them to come”.