Farnborough : The first Airbus orders

The Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) is one of the world's most iconic global aviation events and began this week. FIA holds a prominent position within the aerospace calendar taking place on a biennial basis (once every two years) over one week in July. The first five days of the show are traditionally trade days only, followed by a weekend where the exhibition is opened up to the public.

The Farnborough International Airshow is for EADS a world of opportunities and business!

 

Airbus kicked off its 2010 Farnborough International Airshow presence with sales announcements for 121 new single- aisle and widebody aircraft on July 19- which were led by major acquisitions for A320 Family jetliners from two U.S.-based leasing companies.

This marked the first jetliner purchase for Air Lease Corporation (ALC). The recently formed aircraft financing and leasing company, has chosen to place its first firm order for new aircraft directly from a manufacturer with Airbus. The order is for 20 A321 aircraft and 31 A320 aircraft. The agreement was signed during a ceremony held  at the Farnborough International Air Show witnessed by Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, ALC Chairman and CEO, John L. Plueger, ALC President and COO, Airbus President and CEO, Tom Enders and Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers, John Leahy.
“It is a great way to start off the Farnborough Airshow, and Airbus is extremely proud that this new, well-funded force in the business is investing in our products,” said Airbus president and CEO Tom Enders. “We look forward to building a long-lasting relationship with ALC as a new leader in the aircraft finance and leasing business.”
Udvar-Hazy told reporters that deliveries of ALC’s A320 Family aircraft will begin in January 2011 and continue through the early part of 2015. ALC was established earlier this year by Udvar-Hazy, and the company already has raised several billion dollars of capital to build its portfolio of aircraft for commercial leases.

Also announced at Farnborough was GE Capital Aviation Services’ (GECAS) the commercial aircraft leasing and financing arm of General Electric has signed a firm order for 60 additional A320 family aircraft. This new order brings the total number of A320 family aircraft ordered by GECAS to 327 and the backlog of aircraft to be delivered to 99 aircraft.

LAN Airlines, one of Latin America's leading passenger and cargo airlines, announced too, intention to order 50 new eco-efficient Airbus A320 Family aircraft. The Memorandum of Understanding - signed today at the Farnborough International Airshow - will be the largest single airline order for Airbus in Latin America and brings LAN’s total Airbus orders to 152 aircraft.

The commitment includes 10 A321s, a new aircraft type for LAN. The airline’s request for incremental A320 Family aircraft is part of LAN’s growth strategy for Latin America. The aircraft will serve as new and replacement aircraft for both existing and new routes.