Boeing & Airbus take in orders at Dubai

Boeing and Airbus continued to pull in orders at the Dubai Airshow, but the blockbuster deals of years past seem to be no more as airlines focus more on newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft and the two major plane makers focus on services as well. Boeing and Emirates announced that the airline had finalised a purchase agreement for 30 787-9 Dreamliners, valued at US$8.8 billion at list prices before discounts. Emirates had previously signed an initial agreement for the larger 787-10 variant. As part of the agreement, Emirates will update a portion of its order book by exercising substitution rights and converting 30 777 airplanes into 30 787-9s. With this conversion, Emirates remains the world’s biggest 777X customer with 126 airplanes on order and the largest 777 operator with 155 airplanes today. Boeing also announced numerous services orders and agreements with various airlines and governments. Recent Middle East services orders and agreements include: Egypt signed an Apache Sustainment Extension for technical assistance and on-site support. FlySAFAIR joins more than 300 international customers using Boeing Maintenance Performance Toolbox to access their fleets’ real-time digital maintenance data and engineering and certification information. Kuwait finalised an agreement for Integrated Logistics Support (ILS), which provides F/A-18 support equipment, aircrew courseware and training devices, and technical publications. Saudi National Centre of Aviation (SNCA) signed an agreement with Boeing for its Jeppesen Dispatcher Training. This agreement provides Jeppesen training content, including electronic training materials, and instructors to train SNCA students throughout the Middle East as part of its dispatch curriculum. TAAG Angola Airlines reached a five-year agreement for Boeing Global Services’ Global Fleet Care. This agreement provides Virtual Maintenance and Engineering support for TAAG’s entire fleet of 15 Boeing 777 (8) and 737-700 (7) aircraft. Boeing previously announced at the Dubai Airshow agreements with EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, Etihad Airways, and Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) for a range of aircraft lifecycle solutions including landing gear, engine support, digital solutions, and materials parts access. Additional services orders and agreements with Boeing’s growing global customer set include: Korea signed a multiyear F-15K F110 engines spares agreement that will provide spares for the Republic of Korea’s fleet of F-15 aircraft. India reached a three-year training renewal agreement for C-17 training services for the Indian Air Force LATAM Airlines Group, one of Latin America’s leading passenger and cargo airlines, announced multiyear agreements that will provide LATAM access to Boeing’s global supply chain for 787 and 777 Landing Gear Exchange services. Japan signed a Foreign Military Sale agreement for Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) for the country’s V-22 fleet. Norwegian Air Shuttle has reached a multiyear agreement for Jeppesen FliteDeck Pro electronic flight bag (EFB) solution, including NavData digital navigation services, airport data, and required navigation performance (RNP) services. Netherlands and Boeing continue to work together to support the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s AH-64E helicopters in line with the US government and the newest capabilities. Two other airlines also signalled their intent to buy Boeing planes. The Republic of Ghana announced that the country intends to re-launch an airline starting with the 787-9 Dreamliner. The parties signed a memorandum of understanding at the Dubai Air Show for three airplanes with a list price value of US$877.5 million. The planned airline will be based in Accra and future routes would include destinations in Europe, North America and Asia. Air Astana in Kazakhstan said it intends to order 30 Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes to serve as the backbone of its new low-cost airline FlyArystan. The companies signed a letter of intent for the 30 airplanes valued at US$3.6 billion at list prices. Meanwhile, Airbus continue to rack up the most orders at Dubai. The plane maker announced orders from: Air Senegal, the new national carrier of Senegal, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for eight A220-300 aircraft. Earlier in 2019, the carrier was the first African airline to fly Airbus’ new generation widebody aircraft, the A330neo. Financial details were not disclosed. EasyJet has exercised purchase rights to increase its fleet of A320neos by 12 new aircraft. The agreement takes the carrier’s total order for the A320neo family to 159 aircraft and its overall orders for Airbus single aisles to 480 A320 family. Flynas, Saudi Arabia’s first low-cost airline, has signed a firm order for 10 A321XLRs. In 2016, flynas signed an agreement for 80 A320neo family and currently operates a fleet of 27 A320ceos and 4 A320neos. In 2018, the airline transported more than 6.6 million passengers on 60,000 domestic and international flights. The airline is currently operating over 1,200 flights weekly to 17 domestic destinations and 53 international destinations. GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), the commercial aircraft leasing and financing arm of General Electric, signed a firm order for 12 Airbus A330neos and 20 long-range single-aisle A321XLRs. The agreement for the A321XLR includes an order for 13 new planes and the upsizing of seven A321s in its existing backlog. The latest order takes the total number of A330 family aircraft ordered by GECAS to 45 and all variants of the A320 family to 588.