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Japan Airlines has converted a memorandum of understanding to a firm order at the Farnborough Air Show 2024. The MOU, which was announced in March, includes 21 Airbus A350-900s and 11 A321neos. This comes on top of yesterday’s order for 10 Boeing 787-9 aircraft. JAL already operates a fleet of 15 A350-900 and 3 A350-1000 aircraft, and will result in 52 A350 family aircraft ordered by JAL, of which 18 are in services.
Executive Officer and Senior Vice President Procurement of Japan Airlines Yukio Nakagawa said, “We are delighted to have signed the firm order for the introduction of additional A350s and new A321s. We will accelerate the introduction of the state-of-the-art and fuel-efficient aircraft to provide our passengers with excellent service and to reduce CO? emissions. We believe that this additional introduction of Airbus aircraft will further deepen our partnership.”
Chief Executive Officer of the Commercial Aircraft business, Airbus, Christian Scherer said, “We thank Japan Airlines for placing its confidence once again in the A350. In addition, we celebrate a new milestone in our partnership with the airline following its order for the A321neo. We are committed to providing our full support to Japan Airlines as its growing fleet is deployed on more routes across its network, both domestically and internationally.”
JAL’s order for the A321neo is their first order for an Airbus narrow-body aircraft. The A321neo will likely be utilized for both domestic and smaller international routes, given its flexibility and range capabilities.
The Bottom Line: JAL has returned to Airbus for additional wide-body lift, expressing additional confidence in the A350 family, with 20 orders for new aircraft and one to replace an aircraft lost in a runway collision accident. Adding the first Airbus narrow-bodies to their order expressed further confidence in Airbus for an airlines that was traditionally an exclusive Boeing customer.
