Airbus improves its market share in Latin America |

On day 1 of the Dubai Airshow, Indigo Partners stole the show by going shopping big again. The investment fund announced an order for 255 Airbus A321neo’s and XLRs, including several going to Volaris and JetSMART in Mexico and Chile. With this order, Airbus improves its market share in Latin America. Airbus dominance in Latin America Neither the Brazilian Embraer nor the American Boeing has a firm grip on the Latin American aviation market. Instead, the European Airbus does. Nearly 60% of the region’s fleet was built by Airbus and has more than 71% of the backlog. In August 2021, GOL signed an order to acquire 28 additional Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. Nevertheless, that order helped Boeing only offset GOL and Aeromexico’s previous cancellations during the 737 MAX crisis. On the other hand, Airbus has won a 28 A320 aircraft order with LATAM (although it canceled the A350) and now has two more orders from Volaris and JetSMART. Moreover, the Latin American startup that has launched operations, Itapemirim Transportes Aéreos in Brazil, uses the A320ceo and the A319. Additionally, Ultra Air in Colombia (a carrier lining up to be the second startup to take off in the post-pandemic Latin American environment) will also use an A320 fleet. Nonetheless, Airbus did lose a key customer in the region when Interjet folded last year. The new order Indigo Partners signed a massive deal for 255 Airbus A321neos and XLRs. The European ULCC Wizz Air will receive 102 (75 A321neos and 27 XLRs), Frontier Airlines will get 91 A321neos, Volaris will get 39 A321neos, and JetSMART will get 23 (including 21 neos and two XLRs). Moreover, in addition to the acquisition of these 39 aircraft, Volaris negotiated with Airbus 20 conversions from A320neo to A321neo aircraft of its current order. JetSMART did the same with 18 aircraft from its backlog. JetSMART’s order will increase the Chilean carrier’s total fleet to 125 aircraft, said the airline in a statement. Airbus’ current backlog in Latin America According to Airbus’ latest Order & Deliveries database in October, the European OEM has had 1,129 orders in the Latin American region. It has delivered 678 aircraft. It had 450 unfilled orders, plus the 62 new aircraft coming to Volaris and JetSMART. Airbus still has many significant customers waiting for new aircraft like Volaris, Viva Aerobus, Avianca, LATAM, Viva, and JetSMART. Most of Airbus clients in Latin America are ultra-low-cost carriers, a trend that explains why Airbus continues to be the predominant force in the region. But it also explains why Airbus is losing the widebody segment. Azul is the main Airbus long-haul operator in Latin America. In comparison, Boeing still has 172 airplane unfilled orders in Latin America, according to its website. Boeing still has to deliver nine planes to Aerolíneas Argentinas, nine to Aeromexico, two to Avianca, 41 to Copa Airlines, 104 to GOL Linhas Aereas, and seven to LATAM Airlines Group. Finally, Embraer only has one firm order backlog in Latin America. The Brazilian OEM has to deliver 51 E195-E2 aircraft to Azul. Of the 735 unfilled orders in Latin America, Airbus has a 69% share, Boeing a 23%, and Embraer a 7%. We'll see if there are any new orders for the Latin American region before the year ends.

US Flight Planner - US DoT On-Time Data	Airbus vs Boeing - Official OEM Data
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Airbus dominance in Latin America

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