Providing strong evidence that the commercial aircraft market remains healthy, Airbus announced $39.7 billion worth of new business during the 2017 Paris Air Show. The company won commitments for a total of 326 aircraft, including firm orders for 144 aircraft worth $18.5 billion and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) for 182 aircraft worth $21.2 billion.
A320 Family aircraft sales and commitments were robust, with business accounting for a total of 306 aircraft worth $33.8 billion. This total comprises 132 firm orders worth $14.7 billion, and MoUs for 174 aircraft worth 19.1 billion. In the Widebody segment, Airbus won firm orders for 20 aircraft worth $5.9 billion, comprising 12 firm orders worth $3.6 billion and MoUs for eight aircraft worth 2.3 billion.
John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer Customers, Airbus Commercial Aircraft said: “Our commercial success this week at Paris extends our already diversified order backlog to a new industry record of over 6,800 aircraft, with 326 orders worth $40 billion.”
Further to the new orders, the show also saw a repeat order from DHL Express for four more A330-300 Passenger-To-Freighter conversions, in partnership with EFW and ST Aerospace.
At this year’s show, Airbus not only marked a solid sales tally but also extended its value offering at both ends of its commercial product portfolio. In the Single-Aisle family Airbus decided to offer the Airspace Cabin brand – which, on the A320, includes the biggest overhead bin in its class. For the A380, Airbus has increased revenue-earning potential with even better fuel efficiency, thanks to enhanced large winglets, greater cabin capacity and a new higher take-off weight capability to increase its payload-range.
In addition, Airbus this week launched a new open aviation data platform called Skywise to support the digital transformation of the industry and add value for our customers’ operations. Skywise combines Airbus’ aerospace expertise with advanced data analytics solution provided by Palantir Technologies.