Airbus Dominates Dubai Airshow 2021, With 4x More Orders Than Boeing

As most of you know, the Dubai Airshow 2021, which was one of the biggest aviation events this year, just concluded earlier this week. This year, it seemed like Airbus was on a roll, with 4x more orders garnered as compared to Boeing, most of them of the A320 family aircraft. Airbus received 412 new orders, while Boeing received 101 orders. Prior to the airshow, Airbus too lit up the Burj Khalifa, the largest skyscraper on earth with its logo.

Throughout the Dubai Airshow, 7 airlines and 2 Air Forces ordered aircraft. Indigo Partners (WizzAir, Frontier, Volaris & JetSMART) ordered 255 A321neos and A321XLRs. Jazeera Airways ordered 21 A321neos and Ibom Air ordered 10 A220s. Other than that, Air Lease Corporation ordered a plethora of aircraft, consisting of 25 A220s, 55 A321neos, 20 A321XLR, 4 A330neos and became the first customer of the A350F with 7 orders. As for Military aircraft, UAE Air Force and Indonesian Ministry of Defence ordered 2 A330MRTT and 2 A400Ms respectively. Lastly, CMA CGM ordered 4 A350Fs.

Airlines and Leasing Companies are starting to choose Airbus over Boeing. This is shown greatly as Air Lease Corporation (ALC) rejected Boeing's offer to purchase the Boeing 777X Freighter and opted for the A350 Freighter instead.

"Boeing made a pitch on the 777X freighter, which will come later, probably around 2028," CEO of Air Lease Corporation, Steven Udvar-Hazy said during the Skift Aviation Forum seen by FlightGlobal on November 17, 2021.

Now that we have taken a look at Airbus'orders, lets take a look at Boeing's, for comparison:

The majority of Boeing's orders were the Boeing 737MAX type, due to its efficiency during this COVID-19 pandemic. Akasa Air ordered 72 737 MAX Aircraft, followed by Icelease ordering 11 of its Boeing 737-800BCF (Freighter) and DHL taking 9 767-300BCFs. Lastly, Emirates SkyCargo ordered 2 Boeing 777F, which will be ready by 2028. Other airlines also expressed interest in the type, but have not ordered it.

Up till now, Boeing was dominating the freighter market. Most aircraft used to carry air freight were made by Boeing. However, with the launch of the A350F being successful, and lesser orders for the 777XF, Boeing's monopoly in the air freighter market may be no more in time to come.

Image: © Airbus

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Written by: Sohail Sawlani
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