The second day of the Paris Airshow has given Boeing and Embraer their first orders, while Airbus racked up some more after the historic IndiGo deal for 500 aircraft that was announced on Monday. But all orders were not new ones but a confirmation from previous announcements. Day 2 Paris orders mostly confirmation of previous deals.
Take the Air India order for 470 aircraft with Boeing and Airbus. It was announced as a Memorandum of Understanding in February but confirmed only today in Paris. And not during a big signing ceremony with the media, but in a private event with airline and airframer top management.
The Boeing order includes 290 aircraft: 190 MAX, 20 787s, and 10 777-X. Air India also has an option for 50 MAX and 20 Dreamliners. The order includes comprehensive service agreements with Boeing Global Services to support the fleet over the coming decades, like digital solutions, parts support, training, and modifications.
Eleven minutes after the Boeing release, Airbus issued a statement that also confirmed the previous Letter of Intent with Air India for 250 aircraft. They include 140 A320neo’s, 70 A321neo’s, 34 A350-1000s, and six A350-900s. These are aircraft originally ordered by Aeroflot, but sanctions on Russia prevent them from being delivered. The Airbus contract also covers maintenance and digital support. Air India will be the launch customer of the SkyWise Core X3 platform, the latest version of the analytics system.
Incremental order from Qantas
Tuesday started with the confirmation of an incremental order for nine Airbus A220-300s from Qantas that was first announced in February. This brings the total number of A220s on order to 29, even before the first aircraft has been delivered. A little later, Philippine Airlines finalized a purchase agreement for nine A350-1000s that had also been announced a few weeks before.
Another order that was finalized was that from China Airlines for eight Boeing 787-9s. It has been in the backlog for undisclosed customers and follows after an order for sixteen Dreamliners last year. The most significant aspect of the order is that the airline from Taiwan has converted six 787-9s into the larger 787-10, making it a new customer for this version.
Then there was the order announcement from Air Algérie for eight Boeing MAX 9s. It was already signed during a ceremony in Algiers in May, so even Boeing wasn’t sure today if it counts as a Paris Airshow order. New is that the carrier signed a contract for two 737-800BCF converted freighters to satisfy cargo demand.
Lessor Avolon confirmed an order for forty MAX 8s that was announced in April and included in the undisclosed section since then. Airbus ended the day with the confirmation of a purchase agreement for 25 A321neo’s from Volaris that was signed in October 2022. Â
Embraer orders
Embraer also announced a few commercial aircraft orders on Tuesday. The only new ones were those for Binter Canarias and Envoy Air. The Spanish carrier ordered six E195-E2s valued at $504.7 million in list prices. Deliveries start in Q2 of 2024. The airline will take delivery of the tenth and final aircraft of the original order in mid-2024.
Envoy Air ordered seven E175s and will operate them for American Eagle. They will bring the airline’s fleet of E-jets to 141 when delivered start in the last quarter of this year. The order will be included in the Q2 backlog.
Embraer also confirmed that lessor Azorra is the company that ordered fifteen E2s in December, which were announced in January as undisclosed. They are half of the thirty options that Azorra had on both the E190-E2 and E195-E2. The lessor had firm orders for twenty aircraft, but recent contracts with airlines like Scoot and SKS Malaysia mean that 28 aircraft have been placed. The latest order is valued at $1.2 billion.
Not a new order but a new Embraer customer is another lessor, Avolon. It concluded a sale and leaseback with Canada’s Porter Airlines for ten E195-E2s. Earlier today, lessor TrueNoord said that it has delivered the first of six E195-E2s to Porter on an SLB contract. Porter has had previous SLBs in place with Azorra.
ATR
During a media briefing, ATR said that it has concluded an order with Mandarin Airlines for six 72-600 turboprops. The airframer also signed a Heads of Agreement with Malaysian airline Berjaya Air for two 72-600s configured with the recently unveiled HighLine premium All-Business Class cabin. This makes Berjaya the launch customer of this new product, which has seats in a 1-1 configuration. The aircraft will be delivered in 2025 and 2026.
Both orders count as airshow orders, in contrast to three other ones that ATR has signed earlier this year. One if from Azul for three 72-600s plus two options, the second is for eight 72-600s from three undisclosed customers, while the third is also undisclosed for two customers for the 42-600.
