A flood of contracts at the Paris Air Show?

Just a few days away from the upcoming Paris Air Show, there's a certain buzz around possible order announcements benefiting aircraft manufacturers and, in turn, engine manufacturers. And it's true that this event is a formidable sounding board for the media. All the more so since the 2021 event was cancelled due to the pandemic. Will there be a catch-up effect for the civil aeronautics industry after these years of drought?

Everything seems to point to it. "We've entered a phase of mega-contracts " observed Darren Hulst, Boeing's Marketing Director, recently. Since December 2022, successive orders to Boeing benefit have been received from United Airlines, Air India, Saudia, Riyadh Air and Ryanair for a total of 604 firm aircraft, or 967 including options.

Airbus will be playing its part, of course

Airbus got its share from Air India (250 single- and twin-aisle), a commitment that may well take the form of a formal contract signed during the show; while IndiGo is back in the news for 500 aircraft, including options, and Delta Air Lines is expected to decide on the replacement of 80 twin-aisles. Not forgetting Turkish Airlines, which seems to have decided to postpone announcements for 600 aircraft, Airbus and Boeing, made against a backdrop of presidential elections.

Even Emirates still has a requirement for 150 aircraft, while it has yet to take delivery of no less than 126 Boeing 777-9s, 30 Boeing 787-9s and 50 Airbus A350-900s. In the final analysis, the announcement schedule is in the hands of the customers, and there are only a handful of days left to put an end to the already unbearable suspense, in the knowledge that the Paris Air Show is the preserve of Airbus, which is bound to play its part there.

Don't forget the "invisibles"

However, we mustn't let this potential avalanche of high-profile mega-contracts, each one inevitably more historic than the last, inevitably as Marguerite Duras used to say, make us forget the " invisibles " of the industry, namely the ETIs and SMEs whose role is essential to its smooth running, and to whom we devote a nice spotlight through a territorial approach.

Fossil fuel, the real culprit

For, the French Regions also play a role that is far from negligible, and the major industrialists are well aware of this. And so do we. Finally, we mustn't let this avalanche of orders overshadow the industry's real efforts to decarbonize air transport. Everyone knows that airplanes are not the culprit. The culprit is the fossil fuel it uses, which emits CO2 as it burns. Alternative solutions are well underway, and the Paris Air Show will also be an opportunity to remind people of this fact and/or help them discover it.