Airbus SE has secured two major orders from the flagship carriers of Japan and South Korea, giving the European manufacturer a strategic win in markets that have traditionally leaned toward archrival Boeing Co.
Japan Airlines Co said it is buying 21 Airbus 350-900 as well as 11 A321neos, breaking Boeing’s exclusive hold as the sole single-aisle jet supplier for the carrier. Boeing brought home a smaller deal, for 10 Boeing 787 wide-body jets.
Two hours later, Korean Air Lines Co announced the purchase of 33 Airbus A350 jets in a winner-takes-all contest that left Boeing empty-handed.
Photo: AFP
The commercial successes would help Airbus deepen relations with two carriers that for decades built the bulk of their fleets around the US manufacturer.
Boeing has been in crisis for several months following a near-catastrophic accident on a 737 Max 9 model in early January. Nevertheless, the carrier has managed to log several big orders since then, and loyal carriers such as Ryanair Holdings PLC have pledged their support to the US company as it seeks to improve its manufacturing processes.
This year is shaping up to be buoyant for wide-body aircraft orders, with Qatar Airways QCSC seeking to purchase as many as 150 twin-aisle jets. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (國泰航空) in Hong Kong is also considering a sizeable deal involving dozens of mid-sized wide-body jets. There are also big narrow-body orders on the horizon with Cebu Air Inc looking to close out an order for as many as 150 planes.
Korean Air mostly ordered the larger variant of Airbus’ A350 wide-body model. Of the almost 160 planes in Korean Air’s fleet, 65 percent are from Boeing. The carrier still has about 60 Boeing jets on backlog and about 75 with Airbus after its latest order announcement.
Japan Airlines has about 155 Boeing jets in its fleet with just 17 Airbus jets, the company’s latest financial presentation showed.
Demand for larger jets and bulk buying, bullish bets on future travel growth and strains on plane makers’ ability to meet demand for single-aisle aircraft this decade is fueling a surge in wide-body orders over the past 12 months.
Last year saw a series of bumper orders including an order for 90 777X jets from Emirates Airline and 50 from United Airlines Holdings Inc for the 787-9.
Airbus scored big with 70 wide-body jets out of 220 ordered by Turkish Airlines among other deals. Thai Airways International PCL unveiled an order for 45 787 Dreamliners at the Singapore Airshow last month, having agreed on the deal in December last year.
Both plane makers anticipate that the Asia-Pacific region would account for 40 percent of global air traffic in two decades, up from one-third, according to their long-term projections.
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