Low-cost carrier IndiGo has placed a firm order for 300 A320neo family aircraft. The order comprises of the A320neo and A321neo both of which the carrier already operates and the new long-range A321XLR. The order is worth around $33 billion at current list prices and will bring Indigo’s total number of A320neo orders to 730. Interestingly, the announcement comes days …
Read More »Air France orders upto 120 A220’s. Will retire the A380
Air France has announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbus for 60 A220-300 aircraft. The deal also includes an additional 30 options and 30 acquisition rights which could potentially see an order of 120 aircraft. The aircraft are planned to be delivered from September 2021 and will replace the airline’s existing A218 and A319 fleet …
Read More »Airbus orders and deliveries – June 2019. Paris delivers an order boost.
Airbus closed the first half of 2019 by adding 145 orders to its order book in June. As expected the slew of orders from the Paris Air Show pushed the European manufacturers net orders for the year into the black, with a net positive of 88 aircraft. The Paris Air Show saw Airbus launch the A321XLR for which the manufacturer …
Read More »PARIS 2019: Indigo Partners and American Airlines order A321XLRs
Airbus has announced two more orders for its new A321XLR. The first is from Indigo Partners for 50 aircraft. Indigo Partners is a American private equity fund focused on worldwide investments in air transportation. It has major ownership stakes in Frontier Airlines (U.S.A.), JetSMART (Chile), Volaris (Mexico) and Wizz Air (Hungary). The four carriers operate a fleet of 295 Airbus …
Read More »PARIS 2019: Qantas places order for 36 Airbus A321XLRs
Australian airline Qantas Airways has placed an order for 36 Airbus A321XLRs. The order will sees the airline convert 26 aircraft from their existing order for 99 A320neos to the longest range version. Qantas has also placed an order for an additional 10 A321XLR bring up their total A320 family order to 109 aircraft. Alan Joyce, CEO, Qantas “It can …
Read More »PARIS 2019: Delta commits to higher MTOW A220 with additional order
Delta Air Lines has placed an order for an additional five A220-100 aircraft. The airline is also the first to select the new increased maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) improvement package for its entire fleet from 2020. Last month Airbus had announced that it would increase the MTOW of the A220 by 2,268 kg. The increased MTOW would increase the range …
Read More »PARIS 2019: Iberia and Aer Lingus order A321XLR, Air Asia converts orders to A321neo
International Airlines Group (IAG) has announced an order for 14 Airbus A321XLR aircraft. Eight of these aircraft will go to Iberia and six to Aer Lingus. The aircraft will be delivered 2023 onward and will be configured in a two class configuration with flat bed business class seats. The XLR will allow Aer Lingus to operate flights beyond the US …
Read More »PARIS 2019: Saudi Arabian orders 30 A320neo family including 15 A321XLR
Saudi flag carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines has placed an order for an additional 30 Airbus A320neo family aircraft. The order which includes 15 A321XLRs also gives the airline options on 35 more A320 family aircraft, bringing the airline’s firm order to 65 aircraft and 100 aircraft including options. The airline has not yet announced what engines it will equip with …
Read More »PARIS 2019: Cebu Pacific to order 460 seat A330neos as part of 31 aircraft order
Philippines based low cost carrier Cebu Pacific has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Airbus for a 31 aircraft deal which includes 16 A330neos, 10 A321XLRs and 5 A320neos. The airline will configure its A330-900neo in an all economy 460 seat configuration. The airline’s A320neo’s will be the first to feature 194 seats. The A321XLR will allow the airline …
Read More »PARIS 2019: MEA becomes launch airline customer for A321XLR with 4 aircraft order
Lebanese flag carrier, Middle East Airlines (MEA) has placed a firm order for four Airbus A321XLR making it the launch airliner customer for the type. The launch order came from American leasing company Air Lease Corporation earlier today. The order adds to the airline’s existing A321neo order placed in 2017. MEA will use the A321XLR to strengthen its network in …
Read More »PARIS 2019: Virgin signs order for up to 20 A330neos
UK based, Virgin Atlantic signed an order for up to 20 Airbus A330-900s. The carrier has placed a firm order for eight aircraft and has options for six more. The airline will also take six additional A330-900s on lease from Air Lease Corporation. Virgin will take delivery of the aircraft from 2021 and will use them to replace their existing …
Read More »PARIS 2019: Air Lease Corporation places first A321XLR order as part of 100 aircraft order
American leasing company – Air Lease Corporation (ALC) has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) for 100 Airbus aircraft. The deal includes 50 A220-300s, 27 A321XLRs both new types for ALC and an order for an additional 23 A321neos. This order brings from Airbus’ third largest lessor customer brings ALC’s cumulative orders up to 387 Airbus aircraft.
Read More »PARIS 2019: Airbus launches the A321XLR – its longest range single aisle aircraft
European airframer has opened its 2019 Paris Air Show by launching the A321XLR. The A321XLR is the newest entry to the A321 lineup and will deliver a range of 4,700nm as compared to the currently longest range A321 – the A321LR which has a specified range of 4,000nm. The aircraft will be able to serve transcontinental routes in the US …
Read More »Japan Airlines takes delivery of first Airbus aircraft – An A350-900
Japan Airlines (JAL) has taken delivery of its first ever Airbus aircraft – an A350-900 at a special delivery ceremony at the manufacturers plant in Toulouse, France. Airbus secured JALs order for the A350 in 2013, breaking into a national stronghold of rival Boeing. The airline currently operates an all Boeing fleet of 737s, 767s, 787s and 777s. JAL has …
Read More »Airbus orders and deliveries – April 2019. Orders continue to slow as deliveries rise.
European airframer Airbus logged only a single order for an ACJ320neo for an undisclosed customer. The order barely made a dent in the companies order deficit for the year which stands at negative 57 aircraft. However expect to see Airbus announce orders at the Paris airshow which starts in 10 days time. The company usually makes some large announcements during …
Read More »Visiting the Airbus Asia Training Centre – the largest Airbus simulator centre in the world
Last week, I was invited by Singapore Airlines to visit the Airbus Asia Training Centre (AATC). The AATC is part of the Airbus Flight Training Network which is used to train pilots to fly Airbus type aircraft. The AATC is a joint venture between Airbus and Singapore Airlines, which hold 55 and 45% respectively. The operations of the company began …
Read More »Emirates and the impacts of the A380 phase-out
With the production of the Airbus A380 ending 2021, airline enthusiasts the world over are wondering if there will be a replacement aircraft that is as awe-inspiring. The end of the program is also interesting as it contradicts the fact that airports are increasingly constrained and indeed airlines will have to devise strategies to overcome this. Yet, the impacts are …
Read More »Airbus delivers its 12,000th aircraft – an A220-200
European air-framer Airbus has delivered its 12,000th, an A220-200 to Delta Airlines. The aircraft is the 12th A220 to be delivered to Delta. Airbus delivered its first aircraft, an A300B2 to Air France in 1974. 36 years later in 2010, the company delivered its 6,000th aircraft. On 8 May, the aircraft flew a special route over the companies Mirabel facility …
Read More »Airbus orders and deliveries – April 2019. Deliveries stay consistent.
European airframer Airbus opened the second quarter of 2019 with five orders. The orders were for three A350-900s from Lufthansa Technic on behalf of the German government and two A330-800neos for Uganda Airlines. The manufacturer also recorded five cancellations for A330-200s which keeps their net order deficit to 58 aircraft for 2019. Airbus has also not yet logged the cancellation …
Read More »Airbus orders and deliveries – March 2019. Sales and deliveries gain momentum.
European airframer Airbus has closed out the last month of the quarter with 58 orders. While the figures are much better than the first two months where the company only secured orders for four of it’s the smallest aircraft. Airbus will still close the quarter with a net order deficit of 58 aircraft. The manufacturer has also not yet accounted …
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