European aircraft manufacturer Airbus is seeing a surge in passenger aircraft orders. Following a recent crash of a Boeing passenger aircraft in India, Airbus's market share appears to be expanding even further.
On the 16th (local time), major foreign media reported that Airbus secured contracts worth up to $17 billion (about 23 trillion won) from Saudi Arabia on the first day of the Paris Air Show. Bloomberg noted, "With this contract, Airbus has moved ahead of Boeing, which has scaled back its activities after the recent aircraft crash, at the airshow."
Specifically, Airbus received orders for 30 medium and short-haul A320neo aircraft and 10 A350 freighters from Saudi Arabia's aircraft leasing company AviLease. The contract with AviLease could potentially expand to include 55 A320neo aircraft and 22 A350 freighters. The value of these orders is estimated at around $8 billion (approximately 11 trillion won).
Airbus also received an order for 25 large A350-1000 aircraft from Saudi Arabia's national airline, Riyadh Air. Riyadh Air, having previously ordered 60 A321 collaborative models from Airbus, is likely to place an additional order for 25 A350-1000 aircraft.
European airlines have also placed large orders. According to Reuters, LOT Polish Airlines, the Polish border airline, has purchased 40 A220 aircraft and signed a contract that allows for an additional 44 purchases. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated via social media (SNS) X (formerly Twitter), "This is the largest investment in the history of the Polish national airline."
Since the Paris Air Show runs until the 22nd, the scale of orders for Airbus is likely to increase further. Foreign media have reported that EgyptAir is highly likely to order six Airbus A350 aircraft, and Taiwanese airline Starlux might also purchase additional long-haul A350 aircraft.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Chinese airlines are discussing orders for between 200 to 500 Airbus aircraft, including wide-body and collaborative models. If the order for 500 aircraft is finalized, it would be the largest amount ordered by China in history.
At that time, Reuters reported, "Due to the tariff war between the U.S. and China earlier this year, Boeing has been virtually isolated from the Chinese market, leading to discussions of an order size of up to 500 aircraft with Airbus."
In contrast, Boeing is in a stagnant situation following the crash of a passenger aircraft in India. Boeing stated to AFP that "during this expo, we will focus on customer support rather than announcing new orders." Kelly Ortberg, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Boeing, and Stephanie Pope, the head of the institutional sector for commercial aircraft, did not attend the Paris Air Show this time.
Boeing lost market share to competitor Airbus after two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019. Since then, Boeing has taken several measures, including a CEO change, to restore trust, but even the 787-8 Dreamliner, which had become a 'bestseller' due to its superior safety, faced a crash incident, placing it in crisis once again.