Industry Airbus and Boeing finalize orders before Christmas
Just before Christmas, both Airbus and Boeing have announced new orders. Viva Air orders 50 A320 family aircraft, while FlyDubai finalized a deal over purchasing 175 Boeing 737 MAX.
The order from Viva Air follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Paris Air Show in June 2017. FlyDubai´s order goes back to a commitment made at the 2017 Dubai Airshow and is valued at$27 billion at list prices.
Viva Air is a Latin American low-cost carrier group, headquartered in Panama. The order consists of 35 A320Neo and 15 A320Ceo aircraft, which will be operated by Viva Air Peru and VivaColombia. Both operators operate a full-Airbus fleet.
William Shaw, CEO and Founder of VivaColombia, part of Viva Air, said: “This order reflects our long-term commitment to our customers lowering fares further due to the benefits of this new fleet. We are excited to continue expanding our successful low-cost model and accelerate our growth throughout Latin America making air transportation more accessible and affordable to our customers.”
“Airbus is pleased to play a major role in supporting Viva Air in its exciting journey to develop the low-cost model throughout Latin America. With its exceptionally comfortable cabin, low operating costs and excellent fuel efficiency, the A320 and A320Neo Families are the best product lines to complement Viva Air’s expansion goals.”, commented Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers, John Leahy.
On the other hand, Boeing finalized a deal with FlyDubai over 175 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which makes it the largest single-aisle order in Middle East. The deal includes an option for additional 50 aircraft. In 2013, FlyDubai ordered 75 MAX airplanes, of which 5 are already delivered. The airline operates with a 61 aircraft strong, all-Boeing fleet.
Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO, FlyDubai said: "I am delighted that we end 2017 with today's announcement representing the next chapter in FlyDubai's success story. (…) This is our largest order in our eight-year history and our third order with Boeing whose aircraft have given us the ability to carry 44 million passengers since we began operations. With up to 296 aircraft on order, we have become one of the world's top ten airlines in terms of order backlog and we look forward to continuing to enhance the connectivity of Dubai's aviation hub."
Source © airbus.com / boeing.com