Airbus Fills Out Orders from Japanese and Qatar Airlines

Airbus announced significant plane deals with Japan Airlines and Virgin Atlantic at the Farnborough Airshow on Tuesday, while Qatar Airways hinted at a "sizeable" order for wide-body jets by the end of this year or early 2025.

This year's aviation industry event is expected to see limited deal-making, as both Europe's Airbus and the U.S.'s Boeing are sold out for several years of production and are struggling to increase output. Concerns have arisen due to weak results from several airlines, sparking fears that the post-pandemic travel boom might be waning. However, jetmakers maintain that this has not yet impacted plane demand.

Japan Airlines finalized an order for 20 Airbus A350-900 and 11 A321neo jets, with a total value of just over $3 billion, based on estimated delivery prices from Cirium Ascend. The airline initially planned to buy 21 A350s and 11 A321neos in March but reduced its A350 order to 20 after one jet was destroyed in a collision with a Coast Guard aircraft in January.

Virgin Atlantic ordered seven additional Airbus A330-900s in a deal worth approximately $807 million, according to Cirium Ascend estimates. This order builds on the airline's initial A330neo order from 2019, increasing its total A330neo fleet to 19. Reuters reported on Sunday that Virgin Atlantic was nearing a top-up order for more A330neos.