(AFP/Emmanuel DUNAND)
Suffering before 2020 and weighed down by the collapse of international air traffic during the pandemic, the wide-body aircraft market is taking off again, Airbus and Boeing accumulating sales and order intentions from airlines in recent months.
Beyond the largest order in history for 500 medium-haul A320s for the Indian company IndiGo, the intentions and confirmations of orders for long-haul aircraft have accumulated, albeit in much more modest proportions, at the occasion of the Bourget air show.
On this strategic segment for aircraft manufacturers because it is more profitable than medium-haul, Airbus could boast of having placed since the opening of the show on Monday 52 A350s and 20 A330neos, Boeing claiming 30 copies of the 787 Dreamliner and 10 of its future 777X, the first deliveries of which will take place in 2025.
This does not take into account the orders placed in March, and which have yet to be finalized, from the Saudi companies Riyadh Air and Saudi for 78 Dreamliners and 43 additional optional ones.
According to the specialized firm Cirium, signs of recovery appeared in mid-2022 and rental prices for wide-body aircraft from rental companies rose by 15% in the first quarter of 2023, testimony to the crying need for airlines to have the capacity to respond. the resumption of international air traffic.
Long-distance connections, long penalized by the health restrictions imposed by countries during the pandemic, were slower to pick up than medium-haul flights, but international traffic recovered in April to 84% of its pre-crisis level, according to the International Air Transport Association.
(AFP/Juliette MICHEL)
Over the next 20 years, Airbus forecasts a need for 8,220 new wide-body aircraft, or 20% of the total new planes to be delivered, an estimate similar to that of its competitor Boeing.
“The market is picking up again and everyone wants to be placed”, according to the executive chairman of Airbus Guillaume Faury.
This renewed appetite for large aircraft is explained “for reasons of fleet renewal or aggressive development strategy of the Turkish Airlines type”, explains Alain Guillot, of the firm AlixPartners.
In the first case, the American company United Airlines is discussing an order that could be up to 50 long-haul flights, according to Cirium.
Turkish Airlines, which wants to position Istanbul as a “hub” like the Gulf companies With Doha or Dubai, is in talks to buy 200 wide-body aircraft, as well as 400 medium-haul aircraft, announced its president Ahmet Bolat in early June.
– Increase in cadences –
Despite production problems on the 787, which led Boeing to interrupt its deliveries for nearly 15 months in 2021-2022, the aircraft manufacturer plans to deliver “between 70 and 80” this year.
To meet demand, Boeing plans to go from a rate of 5 planes per month to 10 by 2025-2026. Leave to go further?
The Seattle giant produced 14 per month before the pandemic, recalls Stan Deal, head of Boeing’s commercial aircraft division.
“Orders are very strong. If we consider this to be a long-term trend, we will take the necessary measures” to further increase production rates, “he says.
Airbus has also planned an increase in its rates, that of the A350 being brought from 5 aircraft per month to 9 monthly in 2025.
“We are already going to do that and then we will see”, affirms Christian Scherer, commercial director of the European aircraft manufacturer, who “would not be surprised” if the question of additional increases in rates were asked.
Analyst Richard Aboulafia, CEO of AeroDynamic Advisory, is more circumspect about a resurrection of the widebody market.
(AFP/JULIEN DE ROSA)
“The pandemic has reminded everyone that + small is beautiful + or at least much less risky”, he judges, pointing to the “impressive capabilities of new single-aisle aircraft” with long range like the A321 LR and XLR .
The XLR, which is scheduled to enter service in 2024, will be able to carry up to 244 passengers over 8,700 km, distances previously reserved for large aircraft. It has already been sold to 560 copies, according to Airbus.
© 2023 AFP
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