Day 1 Round-Up: Farnborough International Airshow 2024

Summary

So far, Boeing has dominated the Farnborough International Airshow, with Airbus booking only one order.
Boeing has accumulated 78 firm orders and options, while Airbus only has five.
There were other announcements at the event as well, including De Havilland Canada outlining the steps to revive the Dash 8 turboprop program.

With day one of the Farnborough International Airshow under wraps, Simple Flying reviewed all of the action and announcements that aircraft manufacturers and airlines had made during the day.

So far, Boeing has dominated the event, outpacing its main rival, Airbus, despite the former having dealt with safety and quality issues throughout 2024.

Boeing’s dominance

National Airlines kicked off the inaugural day of the event by ordering four Boeing 777F freighters, following a string of orders for the type before the event, which was set to be replaced by the 777-8F. The airline purchased four aircraft, following orders from Turkish Airlines (four 777Fs, booked in June and announced in July) and Emirates buying five 777Fs for its cargo subsidiary, which was unveiled in July.

Korean Air followed National Airlines and purchased 20 777X and 30 787-10 aircraft. The deal for the latter type was split between 20 firm orders and ten options, which will be reflected in Boeing’s orders and deliveries as soon as the order will be finalized.

Photo: Boeing

Luxair continued purchasing 737 MAXs, with the Luxembourg-based airline now adding the 737 MAX 10 to its backlog with two firm orders and two options, totaling four ordered aircraft. In addition to the biggest member of the 737 MAX family, the airline has already taken delivery of two 737 MAX 8s, with four 737 MAX 7 and two 737 MAX 8 aircraft still on order.

Lastly, Japan Airlines rounded off the day for Boeing, with the Japanese carrier buying ten 787-9 and signing up for another ten 787s, with the latter being an option. The airline did not choose a 787 variant for the options, stating that it still needed to decide which was best for its future fleet plans.

Japan Airlines Boeing 787-9 at SYD shutterstock_1584011857

Japan Airlines Orders Up To 20 More Boeing 787 Dreamliners At Farnborough Airshow

This was Boeing’s fourth order of the day, with Japan Airlines ordering 20 787s from the manufacturer.

One order for Airbus

By comparison, Airbus had only booked one order, with Bhutan-based Drukair – Royal Bhutan Airlines signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for five A320neo family aircraft: three A320neo and two A321XLR.

Photo: Airbus

Still, Pratt & Whitney was also an active participant in the event. The engine maker signed an MoU with Cebu Pacific Air, covering the low-cost carrier’s engine needs for the previous MoU for 152 A320neo family aircraft it signed with Airbus in July, and SMBC Aviation Capital, confirming the PW1100G as its choice of engines to power 42 A320neo family aircraft.

Thus, as day one had wrapped up, here are the totals for the two aircraft manufacturers:

Airline	Firm orders	Options	Total
Drukair	5 (three A320neo, two A321XLR, a MoU)	0	5
Total Airbus orders at the Farnborough International Airshow 2024	5	0	5
National Airlines	4 (four 777F)	0	4
Korean Air	20 777X, 20 787-10	10 787-10	50
Luxair	2 (737 MAX 10)	2 (737 MAX 10)	4
Japan Airlines	10 (787-9)	10 (unknown 787 variant)	20
Total Boeing orders at the Farnborough International Airshow 2024	56	22	78
Total orders, Airbus and Boeing	61	22	83

SMBC Aviation Capital Takes Options For 42 Airbus A320neo Planes With Pratt & Whitney GTF Engines

The additional aircraft are part of a 2021 order for A320neos that included options for more, exercized today.

De Havilland Canada’s resurgence

In other Farnborough Airshow news, De Havilland Canada, the company that has repurchased the Dash 8 program from Bombardier, has also announced its future plans for the Dash 8 turboprops.

The Canada-based company detailed that, with a new production facility coming online near Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in the second half of the decade, it was time to assess airlines’ needs and how a new Dash 8 would fit into their fleet plans.

“To best understand our customer’s needs, De Havilland Canada has assembled a Product Strategy Council and has been meeting over the past months with operators in North America, Oceania, Japan, Africa, and Europe, to understand their requirements and expectations as their businesses objectives and passenger preferences evolve into the future.”

All Nippon Airways Dash 8 Q400 shutterstock_2414330081

Photo: yanchi1984 | Shutterstock

While it might have been too early to conclude that the strategy could bear results, De Haviland Canada announced that All Nippon Airways (ANA), Norway-based Widerøe, and other airlines/companies purchased second-hand Dash 8 Q400s from the Canadian company.

Wideroe De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q300 LN-WFP

Widerøe Marks 90th Anniversary With Upcycled De Havilland Dash-8 Travel Tags

The limited-edition tags come in four colors, honoring the legacy of Widerøe’s Dash-8 aircraft family, including the Q300.

New business class seats for Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines

In passenger experience news, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines each unveiled new business class seats that would replace their current offering.

First up was Qatar Airways, which unveiled its updated QSuites. The new business class seats would be introduced with the airline’s 777X in 2025.

The Turkish Airlines upgraded business class cabin promises more space, privacy, entertainment options, and other benefits, including marble tray tables.

Services agreements

However, there were more developments within the industry. Airbus and Airports Council International (ACI) agreed to strengthen cooperation to reduce carbon and noise emissions.

The United States Air Force (USAF) awarded Boeing a $16.8 million contract to enhance the KC-46A Pegasus, based on the 767. The upgrades included software and data handling.

Jekta PHA-ZE 100 electric amphibious aircraft

Photo: Jekta

ZeroAvia, a company focused on developing hydrogen-electric engines for the aviation industry, and JEKTA, a Switzerland-based aircraft startup that is in the process of developing the PHA-ZE 100 amphibious aircraft, announced an agreement for the latter to use the former’s fuel cell power generation system (PGS).

The system would be used to demonstrate the concept of a fuel cell variant of its electric amphibious aircraft, with the goal of fitting the system on the PHA-ZE 100 when it reaches the market.

Meanwhile, United Airlines selected Honeywell to provide new avionics for its 737 MAX fleet. The latter company detailed that the carrier would install systems that will now have 3D weather radar, new 25-hour flight data recorders (FDR), including the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), and advanced traffic avoidance systems.