Impressive numbers announced at the biennial aerospace industry event
The Airbus product line of commercial jetliners, military airlifters and helicopters reached new heights at this week’s Dubai Airshow with transactions and business announcements for 510 aircraft.
Validating the company’s slogan: ‘We make it fly,’ these orders and commitments involved 500 aircraft from Airbus’ single-aisle A320neo Family and two widebody A330neo jetliners (worth a combined total of $58.3 billion at list prices), along with five of the company’s multi-role C295 transports and three ‘H generation’ H160 rotorcraft.
Leading the activity was the historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 430 A320neo Family jetliners negotiated by private equity firm Indigo Partners for operation by four ultra-low-cost airlines in its portfolio. This represents Airbus’ largest single commercial jetliner announcement by aircraft numbers, while setting a company record in terms of its $49.5 billion value at list prices.
All four of these carriers, located on three continents, are current A320 Family operators and will significantly increase their Airbus single-aisle fleets with aircraft from the new agreement. They are Frontier Airlines of the U.S., JetSMART of Chile, Mexico’s Volaris, and Wizz Air of Hungary.
Bill Franke, the Managing Partner of Indigo Partners and an entrepreneur who is considered an architect of the ultra-low-cost airline segment, stated the 430-aircraft MoU underscored his confidence in the Airbus A320 Family – which he said brought a “winning combination” to the bargain-fare air travel model that he helped develop.
