While the first day of the Dubai Airshow started off slowly, it seems to be gathering pace. As the afternoon progressed, Airbus revealed an order from Indigo Partners consisting of 255 A321 family aircraft. The order is the first significant order of the show and will hopefully be the start of many more to come.
The Dubai Airshow is currently taking place in its 2021 installment. Airshows typically see a number of aircraft orders placed. This airshow has the possibility of being huge or underwhelming for orders.
There is the possibility that airlines could still be put off of ordering jets due to the pandemic. However, it could also be that there is a surge of orders as Dubai hosts the first significant aerospace event since its last installment in 2019. Hopefully, the vast Airbus A321 order is just the start of times to come.
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A huge order
Airbus has kicked the 2021 Dubai Airshow off in style, announcing a massive order for 255 Airbus A321 family aircraft. The order is broken down into regular Airbus A321neos and the Airbus A321XLR. Additionally, the aircraft order is broken down between the four airlines owned by Indigo Partners as follows,
- Wizz Air - 75x A321neo, 27x A321XLR
- Frontier - 91x Airbus A321neo
- Volaris - 39x Airbus A321neo
- JetSMART - 21x Airbus A321neo, 2x Airbus A321XLR
A huge Airbus customer
Today's order cements Indigo Partners' position as a vast Airbus narrowbody customer. Indigo Partners comprises of Frontier, JetSMART, Volaris, and the Major European low-cost carrier Wizz Air. Between the airlines, 1,145 Airbus A320 family aircraft have now been ordered.
Commenting on the order, Bill Franke, who is the Managing Partner of Indigo Partners, said,
"This order reaffirms our portfolio airlines’ commitment to consistent growth through the next decade... With these aircraft, Wizz, Frontier, Volaris and JetSMART will continue to offer low fares, stimulate the markets they serve and improve their industry-leading sustainability profile"
Previous airshow orders
This isn't the first time that Indigo Partners has stolen the show when it comes to sizeable airshow orders. At the 2019 Paris Air Show, the group placed a slightly smaller order for 50 A320 family aircraft. All of these were for the A321XLR, which at the time had just been announced. Wizz Air took 20, Frontier took 18, and JetSMART took 12. With the new order, the airlines now have a total of 79 A321XLR orders incoming.
At the 2017 Dubai Airshow, the group was behind Airbus' most significant single announcement to date at the time. Worth an incredible $49.5 billion, the order equated to 430 A320 family aircraft.
What do you make of the order for 255 Airbus A321neo aircraft? Is it the start of a wave of orders announced during the Dubai Airshow? Let us know what you think and why in the comments.