The Farnborough Airshow, it turns out, was slow in the traditional sense of manufacturers releasing duelling orders of hundreds of aircraft here, hundreds of aircraft there.
Five days ago, we predicted that FIA22 would be an airshow revolving around Boeing’s ongoing delivery and certification issues and Airbus’ nice-to-have three-stretch conundrum as a solution to its supply crunch.
Boeing’s issues certainly remained a topic of discussion, with the Delta order for a hundred of the as-yet-uncertified 737 MAX 10 widely interpreted in part as one component of a strategy to get the airline to lobby the US Congress for an exemption from new safety requirements that come into force at year-end. Meanwhile, any mention of the 787 raised questions about the current production stoppage.
As it turned out, Airbus did little to nothing openly around its supply crunch, nor did it announce anything around its stretch plans, although late-breaking news from The Air Current suggests that the A220-500 is moving even closer towards “when not if” status behind closed doors. There is also a sense within Airbus that chief commercial officer Christian Scherer is looking to distance himself from the order wars waged by his sales predecessor John Leahy, although Scherer seemingly felt little compunction to wage them back in 2019 at his first airshow at Le Bourget.
Elsewhere there was little change. A few orders for Embraer, a few more for ATR, though perhaps surprisingly none for the newly rebranded De Havilland of Canada.
Late-breaking orders almost overshadowed the rest of the show’s tallies
If you’d thought that Thursday would be the slowest announcement day of the 2022 airshow, you’d have been wrong.
Following the supposed departure from Farnborough of Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury and chief salesman Christian Scherer on Wednesday afternoon, Scherer was at the show on Thursday morning. The airframer announced first thing on Thursday that South American airline LATAM had ordered 17 A321neo aircraft to add to its now 100-strong A320neo family order book.
LATAM also confirmed that it will take the extra-long-range A321XLR as part of its deliveries. Eagle-eyed readers will note that one of the A321neos in the announcement image features the older four door per side configuration, but after some sleuthing, Airbus confirms to us that this was in error and all are the new, three doors per side plus two overwing window exits, Airbus Cabin Flex configuration.
Good morning #FIA22! Airbus told us yesterday there were no more announcements for the show, but bright and early we have LATAM ordering 17 A321neos — including an unspecified number of the A321XLR. pic.twitter.com/ujGV40xnNT
— Yocova (@yocova_) July 21, 2022
Over at Boeing, after seemingly tense negotiations — and a half-hour delay attributed to hammering out the deal — Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar al Baker swept in to announce a deal for 25 Boeing 737 MAX 10s plus 25 options.
If you thought that the “recommitments”, “confirmations” and “re-confirmations” of Farnborough 2022 were a bit much, you’ll enjoy the announcement from Cargolux that it has “selected the 777-8 Freighter as the preferred solution to replace its 747-400 fleet”, of which the cargo airlines has sixteen. No actual order was announced.
#FIA2022 semi-order semi-klaxon! 🚨 @Cargolux_Intl has selected the @BoeingAirplanes 777-8F “as preferred replacement for the 747-400” freighter fleet. pic.twitter.com/VNTaCCuuUo
— Yocova (@yocova_) July 21, 2022
The likelihood of the all-747 operator choosing the only other option in the field — the smaller A350F — was always low, but president and chief executive Richard Forson nonetheless confirmed that the airline was “looking forward to continuing its ongoing relationship with Boeing”.
On the services side, Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines signed a deal for the airframer’s Landing Gear Exchange Program, which will cover 19 gear exchanges for the smallest 787-8 member of the Dreamliner family. The program, Boeing says, covers “inventory, engineering support and provides a single source for overhauled and certified landing gear that meets the customer’s requirements and industry standards.”
Elsewhere, on the lessor placement front that has featured so strongly in this year’s show, regional aircraft lessor Nordic Aviation Capital is placing the first two Embraer E190F passenger-to-freight conversion aircraft with Nairobi-based Astral aviation. NAC will use its own Embraer fleet as feedstock for the conversions, and has up to ten conversion slots for the passenger to freighter conversion process.
Elsewhere at the show
But the benefit of a slow show in orders was the time to sit down for deeper discussions, visits and inspections.
With some time to visit chalets and pavilions today, we popped into the Boeing pavilion to see the new Ascent business class, which is optimised for the 737 MAX’s fuselage. Among other optimisations, that allows the seatmaker to eke out extra inches in bed mode by opening up the footwell space to the aircraft sidewall.
Impressed by the business-first and business suites from @Adient and @BoeingAirplanes on display in their pavilion at #FIA2022 — here in their 737 MAX versions — a must-visit! pic.twitter.com/iAQYAcrrlZ
— Yocova (@yocova_) July 21, 2022
At the front, Adient claws back unused space as ahead of the constant section of the fuselage to create a “business-plus” seat with partner dining and a frankly lavish amount of personal space.
And additionally…
We positioned ourself directly behind Boeing’s 777-9 at the end of the runway as the aircraft took off in a rather more sedate manner than at the airshow’s flying displays this week, heading back to Boeing Field in Seattle.
By the time you read this, it’ll be safely home and continuing the testing and certification process, but in the meantime, we can’t help but stare at those extra-long unfolded wingtips as they soar into the sky.
After its flying display work at #FIA2022, the @BoeingAirplanes 777-9 gives us a relatively normal takeoff for the long haul home.
Standing just beyond the end of the runway threshold, I’m stunned by how quiet it is, even at full thrust on @FIAFarnborough’s short runway. pic.twitter.com/FFxDMnSiMY
— Yocova (@yocova_) July 21, 2022
A very safe trip home to you, too, if you were at the trade days at Farnborough this week, and a fantastic Friday at the show if you’re coming back for the final day!
And that is the airshow that was!
Thanks for following along with us at @FIAFarnborough, and we’re so delighted to have had the chance to talk with so many of you at the show.
Let’s continue the conversation on Yocova — see you at https://t.co/fJloOXNEdo! pic.twitter.com/l9wfJ9q2ID
— Yocova (@yocova_) July 21, 2022
Author: John Walton
Published 20th July 2022
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