The European plane maker, Airbus (EADSY, Financial), has always tried to keep its guns ready to fight against the U.S. rival in the narrow-bodied aircraft category where it still remains the market leader offering tough competition to Boeing (BA, Financial). With new single-aisle aircraft orders pouring into its kitty in the past few months from new and existing clients, it’s quite possible that Airbus creates a new record in its order book in the coming months if this trend shows a continuum. Let’s find out what are the latest orders that Airbus just bagged in the narrow-bodied aircraft segment which could place it in a far more favorable position when compared to its sole and major U.S. rival, Boeing.
Glancing at the past record
Airbus is bagging several orders for the A320 family which has been the world’s best-selling single aisle product line with nearly 11,000 orders to date and more than 6,200 aircraft delivered to 400 customers and operators worldwide. Thanks to its widest cabin, all members of the A320 family offer the industry’s best level of comfort in all classes and Airbus’ “18” wide seats in economy as standard.
Along with the conventional Airbus A320, Airbus also launched the A320neo and A321ceo versions which have received a favorable response from its global customers. Currently, the order backlog in the A320 family stands at 10,994 as on October 31, with deliveries across the aircraft ranges being led by the A320 family in October, with 42 aircraft from this best-selling product line been provided to international customers.
New orders pouring in
On November 24, the A320 family received a firm order for nine A321ceo aircraft from Frontier Airlines (FRNT, Financial) – this earmarks the first time the latter has ordered for the largest member of the Airbus A320 family. Currently the airline flies a fleet of 35 Airbus A319ceos, and 20 A320ceo aircraft.
With the nine new additions from the A321ceo aircraft family, the present order backlog of Frontier Airlines stands at 89 for Airbus' single-aisle aircraft, which includes the order backlog for 80 A320neo family aircraft. CEO of Frontier Airlines, David Siegel, stated, “We continue to come back for more A320 family aircraft because they fulfill our mission of providing low fares through low operating costs. … The A321 is a natural fit with our unique brand of Low Fares, Done Right and will continue to help meet our customers’ expectations for a safe and reliable travel experience while allowing us to provide low fare service to more of the country.”
Not only Frontier Airlines, but also Brazil’s airlines Azul Linhas Aereas has placed a firm order for 35 A320neo narrow bodied aircraft on December 1, and this order is worth $3.6 billion at listed prices. This confirmed order marks one of the largest orders bagged by Airbus from the airline which already holds a fleet of 28 A320neo aircraft.
Looking into the future
In September, Airbus raised its long term forecast for new airplane demand by more than 7% based on expected orders of smaller, more fuel efficient planes from several airline companies. Single aisle aircraft are expected to account for 70% of the new production, while 9,300 wide-bodied aircraft would need to be built as per the Airbus’ study.
Airbus predicts that the worldwide fleet would double to 37,500 by 2033 and would be led by the A320 family orders. And the words seem to be coming true with existing clients demanding more planes to add to their fleet belonging to the A320 family.
Final word
Airbus knows well how to maintain its lead in the narrow bodied aircraft segment and is giving enough competition to Boeing by bagging the costly orders in the recent months for the A320 family. While Boeing continues to remain the market leader in the long-haul aircraft segment, Airbus is out to reach a new record in the single-aisle aircraft sector and will maintain its supremacy over the U.S. airplane manufacturer. Let’s stay tuned to find out if there are any further orders bagged by Airbus in the narrow-bodied segment in this fiscal year which clearly demonstrates its lead in this segment over Boeing.
