A Boeing 777X in the sky over Farnborough in the United Kingdom, July 18, 2022 (AFP/JUSTIN TALLIS)
The American aircraft manufacturer Boeing accumulated commercial orders on Tuesday, the second day of an air show in Farnborough (United Kingdom) still crushed by the heat, its European rival Airbus being more discreet.
After a first day already rich in announcements, Boeing continued its momentum with the signing of an agreement with the American fund 777 Partners for a firm order of 30 Boeing 737 MAX-8 (3.6 billion dollars at list price) and an option for 36 additional models from the same family ($4.4 billion).
777 Partners has planned to make the 30 aircraft purchased, a densified variant of the MAX 8, available to its low-cost carriers, the Canadian carrier Flair Airlines and the Australian carrier Bonza Aviation, whose first commercial flights are due to take place this year.
This order is more good news for Boeing, which seeks to reassure on the MAX, its star plane grounded between March 2019 and December 2020 after two close fatal accidents and since subject to much stricter regulatory standards.
A Boeing 777X presented at the Farnborough Air Show on July 18, 2022 (AFP / JUSTIN TALLIS)
As of Monday, the American giant had secured a large order from Delta (100 737 MAX 10, option for 30 additional purchases) and confirmed an order from the holding company of the Japanese company ANA (20 MAX 8, option for 10 additional purchases).
Aviation Capital Group, a subsidiary of the Japanese group Tokyo Century Corporation, also announced on Tuesday that it was adding 12 MAX 8 to its catalog, a contract that was already in Boeing’s order book without the name of the buyer having been revealed. .
On the widebody side, Irish aircraft leasing company AerCap has pledged to buy five aircraft from the 787 Dreamliner family, a model that has not been delivered since May 2021.
The aircraft ordered are the 787-9 version, with a capacity of 296 passengers. At the list price, never applied in reality, the contract weighs 1.5 billion dollars.
Most deliveries of this model have been interrupted since manufacturing defects were discovered in the summer of 2020, but Boeing executives have hinted that a return to normal is near without giving a date. precise.
An Airbus A350 presented at the Farnborough Air Show on July 18, 2022 (AFP / JUSTIN TALLIS)
“When we resume deliveries, we will study the needs of the different companies and the schedule according to which they would like to receive their aircraft,” said Ihssane Mounir, vice president of commercial sales and marketing at Boeing on Tuesday.
“Our contracts allow us to have some flexibility,” he added.
– Shy Airbus –
Airbus is showing itself to be more timid. The European manufacturer on Tuesday received an order for 12 A220 aircraft from Delta, bringing the fleet of this small single-aisle intended for domestic routes to 107 aircraft for the American company.
This contract has a value of nearly 1.1 billion dollars, according to the latest catalog price communicated by Airbus.
The aircraft, A220-300s with a capacity of 130 seats, will be delivered from 2026.
The Farnborough Air Show is an opportunity for Boeing to make up for some of its delay on its main rival. At the end of June, the American group had indeed totaled 286 orders since the beginning of the year, when Airbus had 365, without including a group order from four Chinese companies at the beginning of July for 292 A321s.
The stan of the aircraft manufacturer Embraer at the Farnborough Air Show, July 19, 2022 (AFP / JUSTIN TALLIS)
Behind the two behemoths, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer is trying to make its way. He unveiled on Tuesday a contract worth a total of 1.1 billion dollars at list price with Alaska Air Group, which will order 8 models of the medium-haul E175 from him and placed an option for 13 additional aircraft.
The planes will be delivered from 2023 and used by regional carrier Horizon Air, which operates in North America.
The Farnborough airfield, where several models from civil and military aviation are exhibited, also continued to be devastated by the heat wave which is sweeping across the United Kingdom. The temperature rose to 37 degrees on Tuesday in this city located southwest of London.
© 2022 AFP
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