Today ANA announced orders for 70 aircraft worth $16.6Bn at retail prices. The long haul portion of this order has been much anticipated after rival JAL’s order for A350s. The A350 order by JAL was significant because this was the Japan breakout order Airbus had been seeking.
ANA selected the 777x over Airbus’ A350 in a tough competition to start replacing ANA’s current 777s. The Boeing order is for 40 widebodies – 20 777-9Xs (to be delivered 2021-2027), six 777-300ERs (to support Haneda route growth), and 14 787-9s (bringing ANA’s 787 fleet to 80, all powered by Trent 1000s). The 787-9s are slated to replace 777-200s. ANA was launch customer for the 787 and ordered 36 -8s. ANA is the biggest 787 operator to date. The latest 787 order is for the -9. The Boeing 787 orders have not been updated to reflect this order. However, Boeing’s current 787 sales data shows the -9 represents 39% of total 787 orders and is only 91 sales behind the -8 model. We expect new orders for 787s will increasingly focus on the -9 and -10 models.
For Boeing this is a crucial win in its ongoing battle with Airbus in the super twin segment.
In its single aisle order, ANA stayed with Airbus, ordering 30, of which seven are A320neo and 23 A321neo. Current A320s in the ANA fleet (18) are powered by CFM. This allows for optimal spares management as the airline’s 44 737s are also CFM powered. But the neo order does not mention an engine selection. Does this mean the airline is still evaluating the GTF and the LEAP? Perhaps, but we would not be surprised to see CFM win. Of course a GTF win would be significant news.
“Does this mean the airline is still evaluating the GTF and the LEAP?”
The press release clearly shows the PW1100G engine for the A320neo family.
http://www.anahd.co.jp/en/pr/201403/20140327.html (see table “Aircraft facts”)
ANA has selected the GTF – see here:
http://www.anahd.co.jp/en/pr/201403/20140327.html
Sorry, you said ANA “stayed with Airbus” on the narrow body side, but their narrow body fleet was already mixed. They obviously didn’t conduct a total narrow body fleet replacement with this order, so the door is open for something else down the line.
We asked Airbus about this and the response was: “The airline hasn’t yet announced its selection”. It appears the airline has published something but others in the supply chain have yet to get their news out.
The 777 is a safe bet and the 787-9 should be a better aircraft than the initial 787-8, especially the early delivery models that ANA received. For the Airbus order I believe ANA did the right move, for the A320/A321 are much better aircraft than anything Boeing has to offer in that category. Especially if ANA selected the Pratt & Whitney GTF engines.