75 Airbus A320neo & A321neo Jets Ordered

Aviation Capital Group has ordered 75 more Airbus A320neo family jets, with deliveries stretching into the mid-2030s as availability balloons outwards.

The deal, a sizeable one for the leading global lessor, secures capacity for the next nine years as the single-aisle family’s backlog exceeds 7,000 aircraft and accounts for a large share of the remaining handovers.

The agreement, announced on 16 October 2026, is also the largest order the lessor has placed in its history, a record-breaking transaction for planes to be delivered in the next decade, reflecting the pressure manufacturers have put on customers to pay now to secure their spots.

Aviation Capital Group also said its latest purchase raises outstanding A320neo family orders to 115 aircraft, and the agreement includes conversion rights across both A320neo and A321neo variants.

The flexibility to convert variants and scale up in the future matches customers’ evolving needs, as the landscape in 2035 will differ from the landscape in 2026, when the deal is signed.

A320neo family jets to 2035 locked down

Aviation Capital Group held a fleet of 118 A320neo family jets as of 30 June 2026 and the close of the financial year. Rob Downes, the Chief OEM officer, said the family remained, based on their accounts, the most sought-after product for expansion or replacement needs.

The delivery schedule for the latest large commitment of 75 firm jets is part of the lessor’s due diligence and assessment of availability requirements at its airline customers over the next 10 years.

ACG’s portfolio strategy is focused on new-technology narrowbody aircraft that are most in-demand with airlines globally. Placing the largest order in our nearly 40-year history is a statement of confidence in the long-term future of air travel and in ACG’s important role as a conduit between airlines, aircraft and capital.

Thomas Baker, Chief Executive Officer and President of ACG

The latest purchase therefore is not an immediate source of improvements for certain airlines requiring a capacity lift. Instead, it locks in delivery slots over the next 5 to 10 years, where long-term growth must still be considered.

A supply pipeline beginning in 2032, six years away and continuing into the mid-2030s, is important; while deliveries will continue in the years before that, this latest batch addresses airlines’ expected requirements far in the future.

Backlog at Airbus swells into the 2030s as well

In September, Airbus’ order and delivery figures showed the A320 family held over 20,000 orders, with 12,900 deliveries, and therefore an outstanding backlog of 7,535 aircraft before the latest announcement received in October, covering the entire A320 family.

The backlog for the A320neo family is a particular focus, as the manufacturer’s planned production rate increases haven’t materialised as expected in recent years, so sales and production haven’t kept pace.

Airbus wants to reach 70 to 75 A320neo family jets by the end of 2027; the goal is to stabilise at 75, but reaching this figure has been challenging. If the planemaker hits 75 units, the A320neo family alone would produce 900 jets every year.

The backlog Airbus has seen swell for its A320neo family ensures that, at the improved rate, it still has more than eight years’ worth of backlog, and Airbus hasn’t been able to scale production to the rate it intended for years, which has further ballooned the figures. The eight-year assumption also ignores expected future orders.

With such a heavy backlog, Airbus is already allocating aircraft slots across the coming decade, and therefore companies like Aviation Capital Group are buying nine years in advance. These early purchases from lessors are especially crucial for many airlines in 2026 that cannot commit that far in advance.