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FARNBOROUGH, England: Airbus announced aircraft deals with Japan Airlines and Virgin Atlantic at the Farnborough Airshow on Tuesday, while Qatar Airways is expected to receive a “significant” order for wide-body jets by the end of this year or early 2025.
Delegates expect very limited deals at this year’s aviation industry showcase, with Europe’s Airbus and U.S. rival Boeing Co running out of production capacity for several years and struggling to ramp up output.
Weak results from several airlines have also raised concerns that the post-pandemic travel boom is fading, although aircraft manufacturers say this has not yet affected demand for aircraft.
Japan Airlines’ final order for 20 Airbus A350-900s and 11 A321neo aircraft is valued at just over $3 billion, based on Cirium Ascend’s estimated delivered prices.
The airline said in March it would buy 21 wide-body A350s and 11 A321neo narrow-body jets, but has now ordered only 20 A350s because it will take delivery of one to replace a jet destroyed in a collision with a Coast Guard plane in January.
Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic has ordered seven more Airbus A330-900 aircraft, valued at about $807 million, according to Cirium Ascend estimates.
The order builds on the airline’s first A330neo order in 2019 and will bring its total A330neo fleet to 19. Reuters reported on Sunday that Virgin Atlantic was close to placing additional orders for A330neo aircraft.
Qatar Airways CEO Badr al Meer also said at the air show that the airline will decide on a “large-scale” order for a fleet of wide-body aircraft by the end of this year or in the first quarter of 2025.
He added that the company has also decided to extend the life of its Airbus A380 aircraft and will carry out upgrades including installing new WiFi.
Airlines are increasingly looking to keep existing planes flying longer as jet makers struggle to fulfill their order backlogs.
Consultancy Bain said in a report last week that airlines are facing their longest ever wait times for engine maintenance due to a shortage of new aircraft, which is increasing their costs.
British Airways CEO Sean O’Brien said at the air show that British Airways was “very vigilant” about the delivery of new aircraft, but at the moment “our aircraft are being delivered broadly within the timeframes we need them to be.”
(Additional reporting by Allison Lampert, Tim Hepher, Joe Brock and Abhijith Ganapavaram; Editing by Mark Potter and Jo Mason)
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