Airbus and Boeing each added substantial volumes of units to their commercial aircraft order books on Monday, as the rivals announced sales worth a total of $5.57 billion at list prices. Airbus’s deal involved a conversion of options on 27 A320neo-family narrowbodies to firm orders for 23 A320neos and four A321neos by Lufthansa Group, while Boeing collected a firm order for nine 787-9s from United Airlines.
Lufthansa’s plan for its new Neos will see 10 of the airplanes deployed by its wholly owned Swiss International subsidiary. The order calls for CFM Leap-1As and Pratt & Whitney PW1100Gs to share the powerplant duties, reflecting Lufthansa’s decision to split the two engine types among its group-wide Airbus narrowbody fleet. The latest agreement brings Lufthansa Group’s order total for the A320neo family to 149 (101 A320neos and 48 A321neos), 13 of which Airbus has already delivered.
United Airlines, meanwhile, said its 787-9s order reflects its strategy to replace older widebodies. The U.S. airline, which announced a purchase of four 787-9s in July, now has ordered a total of 64 Dreamliners.
United began flying the Dreamliner in 2012, when it started deploying the 787-8 and 787-9 on intercontinental routes such as Houston to Sydney and San Francisco to Singapore.
Later this year, the carrier plans to take delivery of the largest member of the Dreamliner family, the 787-10. United on Monday announced plans to debut its first 787-10 on premium transcontinental routes in the U.S., boosting its coast-to-coast schedules to offer passengers traveling between New York/Newark and Los Angeles and San Francisco more flights and more premium seats.
For Boeing, the latest deal increases the Dreamliner net order count to above 100 for the year and just one shy of 1,400 since the start of the program. For Airbus, the Lufthansa contract raises its A320neo order total to some 6,100 copies from more than 100 customers.