Paris Air Show orders bring aerospace industry back on track

At this year’s Paris Air Show, the annual international aviation trade show in Le Bourget, Paris, many of the major aircraft manufacturers — Airbus, Boeing and Embraer — reported record orders from airlines. As stated by FlightGlobal’s last report, 1,266 order and option announcements were made during the show, ranking 2023 “third among other big air shows in the last ten years” says businesstravelersusa.com. This bodes well, not only for the recovery of the aerospace industry, but for increased book orders for aerocomposites suppliers as well. FACC (Ried im Innkreis, Austria) CEO Robert Machtlinger notes that these order trends “demonstrate the need for new and efficient aircraft,” decarbonization efforts being a primary driver. 

According to Reuters, Airbus (Toulouse, France) and Boeing (Arlington, Va., U.S.) “collectively unveiled orders or commitments for some 1,100 jets.” These order announcements were dominated by Indian airlines IndiGo and Air India, with a total of 970 orders — Air India ordered 470 narrow and widebody airplanes from both industry giants (40 Airbus A350, 210 Airbus A320neo, 20 Boeing 787, 10 Boeing 777X and 190 Boeing 737 MAX), and IndiGo 500 aircraft (Airbus A320s), as cited by an Airways report. Note that the models most in demand are short- and medium-haul aircraft, i.e. aircraft with a capacity of 150 to 220 passengers.

Additional orders for Boeing included Luxair airline’s commitment for four 737-7s, which will bring the airline’s firm orders for the 737 to eight, and another Indian airline, Akasa Air, which is to take four 737-8 jets into its aircraft fleet.

Aviation Week points out that, while Boeing had 224 official new purchases, with another 56 orders with undisclosed customers already in the books, Airbus still “more than tripled Boeing’s haul, with 805 new firm orders.”

Another key trend seen at the Paris Air Show was seen by the leasing sector, whereby many carriers were “opting for leasing services instead of completely purchasing new aircraft, as it provides them with more flexibility and fredom to us and rotate their fleet,” reports Airways. Committments included:

• Air Mauritius: Three A350-900s
• Philippine Airlines: Nine A350-1000s
• Qantas: Nine narrow-body A220s
• Volaris: 25 A321neos
• Air Lease Corp. (ALC): Two 787s
• Avolon: 10 Embraer 2s, 40 737 MAX, a leasing contract for three A330neos and 20 A330-900 aircraft

Embraer (São Paulo, Brazil) secured a total of 35 orders, many of them lessor agreements. For its E2-195 aircraft, this involved Avolon, Azorra Aviation and Binter, with 10, 15 and 16 units, respectively. American Airlines (for regional subsidiary Envoy Air) was the only reported airline, adding to this list with a purchase of seven E-175 airplanes. 

Other lessors, including AirLease Corp., Aviation Capital Group, Azorra Aviation and Nordic Aviation Capital agreed to purchase new aircraft or signed dry-leasing contracts with third-party airlines.

“The aviation industry has shown that it can successfully overcome challenges,” Machtlinger emphasizes in FACC’s most recent press announcement. “As a meeting place for all industry representatives, the upcoming ramp-up of production rates was in the foreground at the international trade show.” He notes that in FACC’s case, this increasing demand — growing the company’s order books to €400 million — confirms the forecasts of the past months, with a further expansion of production capacities in the coming years anticipated.