Something that everyone picked up on following the Dubai Air Show was the 0 orders racked up by Airbus for its A320 family jets. However just days after the airshow wrapped up in the UAE Airbus has announced a large order for the aircraft type. It won’t be an airline taking direct delivery as they have been sold to SMBC Aviation Capital.
The SMBC Aviation Capital A320neo Order
As mentioned the planes haven’t been ordered by an airline but from a large leasing company. It’s very possible and likely though that they will be directly delivered to airlines as the firm might find clients fore them during the production waiting time.
Specifically SMBC Aviation Capital has ordered a notable 60 Airbus A320neo family jets. It hasn’t been specified, however it’s almost certain that a combination of A320neo and A321neo planes will be delivered. Also more in detail it’s possible that some of those A321neo might be LR versions or even XLR versions once it has been certified.
The 60 Airbus A320 family jets ordered will add to the current backlog bringing it up to over 340 units. Also they will join a huge fleet of almost 900 aircraft SMBC Aviation Capital currently manages in its portfolio.
Why No A320neo Orders in Dubai
Although it is true that the problems with the PW GTF engines have cooled down the excitement airlines might have had for the A320neo planes I don’t think that was the sole reason there were 0 orders placed in Dubai.
Simply Dubai had the wrong crowd of airlines attending. Middle eastern carriers aren’t the largest known fans of single aisle planes. Their general main focus is on high capacity wide body jets. So it didn’t surprise me all that much that there weren’t any A320 family orders.
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