Airbus SE came out strongly at the Dubai Airshow on Sunday with a group order for 255 single-aisle A321 aircraft, marking the first major deal of its kind since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The European planemaker’s announcement came shortly after its US rival Boeing Co said it would fulfill an order to convert 11 single-aisle 737s into cargo aircraft, and as the aviation industry slowly recovers from a pandemic-induced downturn.
Airbus said the order came from Wizz Air Holdings PLC, Frontier Group Holdings Inc, Volaris and JetSmart Airlines SpA — all from US company Indigo Partners LLC — for a total value of more than US$33 billion, based on the latest list price published by Airbus in 2018.
Photo: AFP
Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air will receive 102 aircraft, American Frontier Airlines will receive 91, while 39 will go to Mexico’s Volaris and 23 to Chilean JetSmart.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said that because the four companies fall under the same aviation-focused equity firm, it allowed for a large order and for an attractive price, adding: “It’s a give and take situation.”
Deliveries are set to begin in 2025.
Representatives of the embattled aviation industry flocked to the Dubai Airshow on Sunday as the sector emerges from COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions and faces pressure to reduce its contributions to climate change.
The five-day event in the United Arab Emirates is the industry’s first large gathering since COVID-19 clipped its wings last year, as border closures left airports deserted and hundreds of aircraft idle.
Air traffic has since bounced back, although it was still 53 percent lower in September compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Commenting on Sunday’s deal, Indigo Partners chief Bill Franke said the company wanted “to be early in the [recovery] process.”
Airbus chief commercial officer and head of Airbus International Christian Scherer said the Indigo Partners airlines had “acted fast and decisively over the last few months to position themselves for this landmark order as the effect of the pandemic recedes and the world wants more sustainable flying.”
Airbus also said that the UAE’s air force ordered two additional A330 Multi-role Tanker Transport aircraft, bringing the number of those planes among its fleet to five.
Boeing meanwhile announced that it had signed a contract with an Icelandic company to convert 11 single-aisle 737 aircraft into cargo planes.
The US aircraft maker did not disclose the value of the contract with Icelease to convert 11 Boeing 737-800BCFs — a previous generation of the MAX series — into cargo aircraft.
To meet growing demand, Boeing said it would open three new freighter conversion lines in Canada and the UK, in addition to those recently opened in China and Costa Rica.
The aviation industry has weathered a global supply chain crisis that has created headaches for the shipping industry.
Amid a slump in global air traffic, during which traditionally half of all air freight was carried in the holds of passenger aircraft, airlines have turned to cargo planes. With a decrease in air traffic during the pandemic, hundreds of planes, mostly older generations, have been abandoned, although they could have been turned into cargo aircraft.
Boeing said in a statement that it forecast 1,720 freighter conversions over the next 20 years to meet demand, adding it has “more than 200 orders and commitments from 19 customers.”
While wide-body aircraft, such as the Boeing 777, 767 and A350 have their own cargo versions, single-aisle aircraft such as the 737 do not.
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