2023-06-23 17:26:00
Le Bourget or how to quintuple your orders in the space of three days. This might sum up the living room experienced by Airbus. With only 178 gross orders at the end of May, the European manufacturer was behind Boeing by around fifty aircraft. Above all, he appeared far from his own passing time last year when he already accumulated 364 orders.
Airbus is still in the lead at Le Bourget once morest Boeing
However, this discrepancy should be put into perspective. First of all, last year’s figure was exceptional, with a post-crisis catch-up phenomenon and the need for airlines to take up medium-haul delivery positions to rebuild their capacities in the face of traffic prospects. found. For comparison, in 2018, this figure at the end of May was 168 aircraft for Airbus.
The announcement effects are still in place
Then there is the Bourget effect. All the “Bourget years”, which take place every two years alternating with the UK’s Farnborough show, Airbus’ score at the end of May is rather low in sight. And this, in order to announce a maximum of orders during the show. This usually results in a good score at the end of the year. And Guillaume Faury, Executive Chairman of Airbus, may have declared to the Paris Air Forum that “the habit of concentrating everything at trade shows has been somewhat lost” and that he was not “not sure that we have exactly the same dynamic as before the Covid”the European manufacturer has once once more reproduced this well-established pattern.
And for good reason, he finished the Paris Air Show with 801 aircraft ordered. Especially since it is still necessary to add seven A350s ordered at the beginning of June, as well as 70 planes, including 10 A350s, as announced by Christian Scherer, commercial director of the European manufacturer, just before the show. These devices, whose buyers are still confidential for the moment, will be accounted for in the June balance sheet.
Dizzying new Indian orders: Air India buys 250 Airbus and 220 Boeing at Le Bourget
Over 1,000 orders and counting
At the end of the month, the European manufacturer should therefore announce the huge figure of 1,056 gross orders. Almost as much as for the whole of last year. Even if the count stopped there for the last six months of the year, Airbus’ performance would already be honorable. Especially since the manufacturer has only recorded 34 order cancellations so far.
In view of the announcements still to come, it is a safe bet that the European manufacturer will still climb a few steps. Turkish Airlines is expected to announce its order for 600 planes. The Turkish company having a fairly balanced fleet between Airbus and Boeing, it would be surprising to see it put all its eggs in one basket.
In addition, following its 500 A320 NEO family aircraft, Indigo must commit to 25 long-haul flights. Similarly, Riyadh Air wants to place a large medium-haul order this year. After narrowly missing out on the long-haul contract, Airbus will want to catch up. The saturated order book for the A320 NEO for at least the next five years and the “very political dimension”, as mentioned by Guillaume Faury at the Paris Air Forum, might nevertheless compromise the European manufacturer’s chances once morest Boeing. Finally, Avolon should confirm the purchase of twenty A330 NEOs as announced at Le Bourget.
Akbar Al Baker, the boss of Qatar Airways, is playing for the win at the Paris Air Show
Boeing plays on the length, for lack of anything better
On the side of the American aircraft manufacturer, the situation is somewhat different. With 223 orders at the end of May, it was on a relatively similar trajectory to that of last year, with around a dozen planes, without it being either staggering compared to certain years before the crisis. In 2018, it had already garnered 376 sales at the end of May.
After this slow start, Boeing will not have gone into a triple gallop during Le Bourget. The American manufacturer plays less contract retention than its European competitor. He thus announced, less than a month ago, an agreement with Ryanair for 150 copies of the 737 MAX 10 firm and as much as an option. Admittedly, it is not yet a firm order, but it would have had its effect in the spans of the show.
But in this case, Boeing did not seem to have the means to make big announcements. The conferences to unveil contracts for a few devices already recorded in the order book are proof of this. Its only real feat of arms is to have recorded the confirmation of the sale of 220 aircraft to Air India – which Airbus also did with 250 aircraft. What is more, in one case as in the other, these were known orders which had already been the subject of a prior agreement last February.
Boeing is doing better, but its boss Dave Calhoun still has work to do
Late, even on the long haul
At the time of making the total, Boeing has garnered 266 firm planes during this Paris Air Show. This will certainly allow it to double its order book since the beginning of the year, but its performance is out of all proportion to that of Airbus. The American manufacturer is thus at 489 planes sold to date. It is twice less than its competitor. He will therefore have to still whip to reach the thousand of devices sold, which is his usual standard in recent years (excluding the 737 MAX and Covid crisis).
Finally, Boeing can no longer even be satisfied with continuing to lead the race in the long-haul segment. It has so far sold 87 firm copies of 777s and 787s sold since the beginning of the year. Opposite, Airbus took advantage of the order from Air India to increase to 113 long-haul aircraft ordered. These are almost exclusively A350s pending confirmation of the A330 NEO from Avolon. This might therefore be a very good year for Airbus in this segment, with one caveat: the manufacturer is counting in this year’s orders the reinstatement of 23 A350s for Qatar Airways, which it had itself canceled due to the dispute with the Qatari company on the degradation of the aircraft’s paint.
Still, there are grounds for hope for Boeing. First of all, the confirmation of the order from Ryanair will immediately boost the sales total. The same with those of the Saudia and Riyadh Air contracts for 78 Boeing 787s which will put it back in the lead on the long-haul – without forgetting the order to come from the new Saudi company on the medium-haul. And like Airbus, Boeing can reasonably expect to profit from part of the Turkish Airlines contract. Something to revive the suspense for the second half of the year.
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