Sunday November 14, 2021
US company buys 255 jets
Airbus wins major order for A321
For the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic, the battered aviation industry is meeting for an air show in Dubai. The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus can shine with a major order. A US company buys 255 A321 jets. Long-term forecasts also sound cheap.
The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus received a major order at the first major aviation trade fair since the beginning of the corona pandemic: The US company Indigo Partners has ordered 255 A321 aircraft for its four airlines, Wizz Air, Frontier, Volaris and Jetsmart, Airbus announced on first day of the Dubai Air Show with. Airbus did not provide any information on the value of the major order.
Based on the list price last published in 2018, the order value would be more than $ 33 billion. However, list prices are rarely used for large orders. The Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air is said to receive 102 aircraft, the US company Frontier Airlines 91, the Mexican airline Volaris 39 and the Chilean Jetsmart 23. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2025. Airbus boss Guillaume Faury said that since all four airlines belong to Indigo, a larger order is possible at an attractive price: “It’s a give and take.”
First trade fair since the beginning of the pandemic
The five-day air show in Dubai is the first major meeting of the aviation industry since the beginning of the corona pandemic. The industry is still under the impression of massive travel restrictions and, because of the debate about climate change, is also under massive pressure to reduce its CO2 emissions. Air traffic is slowly recovering from the pandemic. In September, however, it was still 53 percent below the pre-crisis level.
Nevertheless, Airbus assumes that the pandemic will only put a small damper on air traffic in the long term. Head of Sales Steve Scherer presented a forecast in Dubai according to which Airbus expects a worldwide demand of 39,020 new passenger and cargo aircraft in the next 20 years. That is only 0.5 percent less than Airbus had predicted in the previous study two years ago – i.e. before the outbreak of the pandemic.