The 2024 Farnborough Airshow ended on Friday in a frustrating atmosphere, with few orders for commercial aircraft.
With 286 aircraft announced, it was the worst edition in terms of number of orders since 2006 and well below the 2023 Paris Air Show, which had more than 1,150 orders announced.
Airbus once again surpassed Boeing with 164 orders against 118 orders and options, but curiously the European planemaker’s shares fell while its rival saw a reasonable increase.
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Other passenger aircraft manufacturers had a muted presence. ATR only concluded the sale of four ATR 72 turboprops to Air Tahiti, a traditional customer.
The biggest disappointment ended up being Embraer, which has been seen as an alternative to Boeing and Airbus’ production problems.
The Brazilian company did not announce any deal at Farnborough, although it did say it had ‘more than 300 aircraft’ in talks.
Supply chain issues hinder deliveries
With more than 15,000 aircraft in their order books, Airbus and Boeing seem more focused on meeting the demand for closed contracts than on expanding sales.
The persistent disruption in the supply chain also affects any prospect of expanding deliveries, which is reflected in less optimistic forecasts from both for 2024.
The orders announced at Farnborough were also partially overshadowed by pre-agreements revealed previously.
Japan Airlines, for example, only confirmed at the event its plans to order 20 787-10s, 20 A350-900s and 11 new A321neos revealed in March.
Libya’s small Berniq Airways had announced an order for six A320neo family jets, but Airbus only confirmed the order at Farnborough.
Low-cost carrier VietJet was an even more surreal case, as the company announced its order for 20 A330-900s alone without Airbus including them in its press releases, despite the presence of senior executives at the ceremony.
The largest order ended up being from flynas, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding for 90 Airbus aircraft – 75 A320neos and 15 A330-900s.
Korean Air also attracted attention with a large widebody deal that included 20 777-9s, 20 787-10s and 10 more options for the latter.
| Boeing | 737-8 | 737-10 | 787-9 | 787-10 | 777-9 | 777F | Total | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Airlines | 4 | 4 | commitment | |||||
| Korean Air | 30 | 20 | 50 | commitment | ||||
| Luxair | 4 | 4 | order | |||||
| Japan Airlines | 20 | 20 | order | |||||
| MacQuarie | 20 | 20 | order | |||||
| Qatar Airways | 20 | 20 | order | |||||
| Total | 20 | 4 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 4 | 118 |
A320neo and 787 Dreamliner fared better
The A320neo family had 97 orders, beating the 737 MAX by a wide margin, which had 24 aircraft ordered, including options.
The 787 Dreamliner was the widebody with the most orders, with a total of 50 aircraft, followed by the A330neo (42 aircraft), 777X (40) and A350 (25 aircraft).
There was only one freighter announcement, early in the air show, by National Airlines, which ordered four 777Fs.
Aircraft such as the 777-8, 737-7, 737-9, A220, A350F and A350-1000, as well as the E2 jets, did not register any orders.
| Airbus | A320neo | A321neo | A330-900 | A350-900 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drukair | 3 | 2 | 5 | MoU | ||
| Japan Airlines | 11 | 20 | 31 | order | ||
| Virgin Atlantic | 7 | 7 | order | |||
| Berniq Airways | 6 | 6 | order | |||
| VietJet | 20 | 20 | order | |||
| flynas | 75 | 15 | 90 | MoU | ||
| Abra Group | 5 | 5 | MoU | |||
| Total | 84 | 13 | 42 | 25 | 164 |
