Boeing Dominates Farnborough Day 1 With Big Orders For Large Planes

Boeing’s team has reason to celebrate at the close of the first day of the Farnborough International Airshow in London. The American plane manufacturer took the lion’s share of commercial jet orders announced at the show, most in the wide body category.

Starting the day off with an order for four 777 freighters from U.S. carrier National Airlines, things quickly sped up with strong support from two Asian carriers.

Korean Air ordered up to 50 wide body planes, including 20 Boeing 777X which is the first order for the type from the carrier. It also placed a firm order for 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, with options for an additional ten.

“The addition of the Boeing 777-9 and 787-10 aircraft marks a significant milestone in our strategic objective to expand and upgrade our fleet,” Walter Cho, Chairman and CEO of Korean Air said in a statement.

Japan Airlines committed to up to 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, with firm orders for 10 Boeing 787-9 and options for ten more jets, which could be any Dreamliner variant of the airline’s choosing. These orders bring Japan Airlines’ Boeing backlog to 10 787s and 21 737 MAX jets on order.

“We greatly appreciate the strong relationship and support from Boeing, which has been instrumental in our efforts to modernize our fleet and expand our international routes,” said Yukio Nakagawa, JAL Executive Officer of Procurement in a statement.

There were fewer narrow body orders. Luxemburg-based carrier Luxair committed to buying two 737 MAX 10s with options for another two. The aircraft’s certification has been delayed by a de-icing issue that may not be fixed until next year. Luxair has purchased 737 MAX 7 and 737 MAX 8 aircraft, with the 737 MAX 7 also facing certification issues. The airline operates two 737 MAX 8s which it received through a lessor.

“There is high commonality between the 737 MAX models, and this allows for significant operational savings for the airline,” Gilles Feith, Luxair CEO said in a statement.

For its part, Airbus announced a Memorandum of Understanding, with Drukair – Royal Bhutan Airlines the national flag carrier of the Kingdom of Bhutan, for five narrow body planes in all: three A320neo and two A321XLR.

Still holding out, Turkish Airlines is expected to make an announcement on a large order of planes. The airline has been in ongoing negotiations with Boeing and Airbus to expand its fleet with around 600 new aircraft. While first expected to announce orders during last year’s Paris Air Show, the airline did not. Instead, in December, Turkish Airlines placed a firm order with Airbus for up to 355 planes. It consisted of 50 A350-900s with an additional 20 options, 15 A350-1000s, five A350F freighters with five options, and 100 A321neo narrow body planes with options for an additional 100.

Turkish Airlines may announce the balance of its orders this week, which is something to look forward to at Farnborough tomorrow.