In the last days of December, Airbus announced or confirmed orders for more than 600 aircraft — almost all of which were A320/A321neos.
A year-end rush of order announcements has become something of a tradition at Airbus, and 2017 was no exception — fittingly so, at the end of the last year of sales chief John Leahy with the company.
In the last days of December, the following deals were announced or confirmed:
• On 21st December, Turkish low cost carrier Pegasus Airlines placed an order for 25 A321neos in Airbus Cabin Flex (ACF) configuration. This comes on top of 18 A321neos and 57 A320neos already on order, bringing Pegasus Airlines’ total firm order to 100 Airbus A320 Family aircraft.
• On 22nd December, Viva Air, the Latin America low cost carrier group owned by Irelandia Aviation, signed a purchase agreement with Airbus for 50 A320 Family aircraft, confirming an MoU signed at the Paris Air Show in June. The 35 A320neos and 15 A320ceos will be operated by the group’s airlines VivaColombia and Viva Air Peru.
• On 28th December, leasing company AerCap holdings N.V. Increased its A320neo portfolio after signing a firm agreement to buy 50 additional aircraft. This transaction brings AerCap's firm orders for the A320neo Family aircraft to a total of 270, owned and on order.
• Also on 28th December, Airbus announced that it had finalized agreements with Indigo Partners and its four portfolio airlines for its largest-ever single order announcement — 430 additional A320neo Family aircraft for ultra-low-cost airlines Frontier Airlines (United States), JetSMART (Chile), Volaris (Mexico) and Wizz Air (Hungary). The agreement follows an MoU announced at the Dubai Air Show in November. The 430-aircraft order is made up of 274 A320neos and 156 A321neos worth $49.5bn at list prices.
• On 29th December, CALC (China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited) signed a firm order for 50 A320neo Family aircraft. This latest order brings CALC’s total order book to date to around 200 Airbus single-aisle aircraft.