Airbus Announces Major Order

Airbus has begun the 2025 edition of the Paris Air Show with a significant contract.

The purchase comes from AviLease, a global aircraft lessor based in Saudi Arabia, which specialises in developing airline fleets around the world.

AviLease will commit to 30 Airbus A320neo family aircraft to elevate its single-aisle backlog across airlines worldwide; however, it’s also tapping into the freighter market.

In a massive vote of confidence for Airbus’ newly announced A350F and part of its attempts to gather greater market share in this sector, AviLease will purchase 10 of this type.

However, as part of the deal, there is also the agreement which sees a likely increase to 22 of the A350F and 55 of the A320neo family jets, providing added security to meet future demand.

We are proud to establish an Airbus order book, strengthening our position as a full-service, investment grade global lessor. The addition of these latest generation aircraft enhances our ability to offer modern, fuel-efficient fleet solutions to our airline partners in Saudi Arabia and around the world. We thank our local partners and Airbus for the strong long-term partnership we have established and look forward to placing these aircraft across our valued customer base.

Edward O’Byrne, CEO of AviLease

Airbus is delighted to have AviLease as its latest customer and does not doubt that the A350F and A320neo family, which are leaders in their class, will be hugely beneficial to airlines moving forward.

In what has been a busy few weeks for AviLease, a purchase for Airbus aircraft also follows a deal in which it announced it would add Boeing 737 MAX jets to its backlog.

The Boeing part of the contract was announced a couple of weeks ago as part of major trade agreements reached with the United States; thus, the contracts benefited Boeing at the time.

Airbus Wins With The A350F

The biggest winner from this deal is the upcoming A350F, a newly dedicated freighter that is part of an extension of the A350 program.

For Airbus, it feels they’ve been in the shadows of Boeing for too long, which has been able to control a large portion of the market share with its major programs.

Now, with the A350F, the planemaker is attempting to change the dialogue surrounding this sector and expects this plane to rival the 777F, while also proving to be an answer to Boeing’s upcoming 777-8F.

A significant deal from AviLease for 22 of the upcoming A350 Freighters signifies the strength this currently uncertified model has and also strengthens the backlog years before launch.