By Bjorn Fehrm
June 19, 2025, © Leeham News at Paris Air Show: Boeing chose to scale down its participation at this week’s Paris Air Show out of respect for the victims of the Air India crash last week. This left Airbus and Embraer to announce new orders, with a total of 148 firm orders for Airbus and 60 for Embraer.
Outside the order activity for the three large airliner OEMs, it was a relatively quiet show, with few noteworthy announcements of advancements in areas such as Sustainable Aviation.
Figure 1. Airbus orders and commitments at the Paris Air Show. Source: Airbus.
Boeing’s problems
Boeing, which had started to make real progress on its way back from the 737 MAX crisis, 777X delays, and strikes, was hit by a very unfortunate first crash of the 787 family the week before the show. More than 280 people died in the aircraft and on the ground as the Air India Flight 171 787-8 went down shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad Airport last week.
There has been no further information as to the cause of the crash at the Air Show. There are speculations and theories about what could have happened, but experts agree that we have no firm clues or understanding of what happened. Both data and voice recorders have been found, so India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) should issue a preliminary statement about the crash in the near future.
Boeing has announced no orders at the show, but it had a blockbuster May when Donald Trump toured the Middle East, with 130 787s and 30 777Xs ordered by Qatar Airways, and 20 737 Max ordered by Avilease (WestJet of Canada also ordered a net of five 737 Max in May).
Airbus announcement and orders
Airbus held a technical briefing in Toulouse before the Air Show, followed by several announcements of orders during the event. In total, 148 firm orders and 103 letters of intent or memoranda of understanding were announced, Figure 1.
For the A350 family, the uptick in A350-1000 orders shows that the time has now arrived for this larger variant of the A350. It was outselling the -900 by a six-to-one margin at the show. If we were to include the A350-1000-based freighter A350F, it would be close to eight-to-one.
The A350’s engines, the Trent XWB, will undergo improvements, including a 1% decrease in fuel consumption for the XWB 84 this year, as well as enhanced durability. Additionally, the XWB 97 will receive durability improvements from 2028, resulting in a doubled time on wing.
The A330neo has received no new orders at the show as of Wednesday, but has secured 10 additional orders since the start of the new year. The A330neo continues its development with enhanced field performance introduced this year (through shorter gear retraction times and improved flap settings), followed by enhanced durability of the Trent 7000 engines in 2026 and an increase in the Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW) to 253 tonnes in 2028. It will give the A330neo an additional 150 nautical miles (nm) of range.
The A320neo and A321neo are the top sellers with 57 firm orders and 100 letters of intent from Vietjet. On the technical side, the changes from the A321neo and LR to the A321XLR were detailed at the Toulouse briefing before the show.
To handle the increase in MTOW from 97t for the A321neo/LR to 101t for the XLR, Airbus has strengthened the wing and modified the inboard flap for additional lift, as well as reinforced the fuselage and landing gear of the XLR. The wing will be introduced into the A321neo/LR, as the weight increase is minimal, and the takeoff performance improvement and commonality are valuable. However, the fuselage changes add too much weight for it to be common between the XLR and neo/LR. The XLR fuselage, with its integrated Rear Center Tank (RCT), will be unique for the XLR.
The A220 won a large order from LOT Polish Airlines. The A220 has seen continuous increases in MTOW recently, with the range now advertised as 3,600nm, using Airbus rules. The work to certify a 160-seat high-density version has also started. The rumored A220-500 seems to have slipped into the 2030s, however, with Airbus emphasizing its focus on increasing production of the current versions.
Embraer
Embraer announced an order for 60 E175s for WestJet at the show. The somewhat surprising order of 40 Airbus A220s from LOT Polish Airlines, one of the largest operators of Embraer E-Jets, was explained as a political decision. As Putin’s Russia threatens Europe, the EU states have closed ranks, which favors a European order for the replacement of the present E-Jets.
The Brazilian manufacturer achieved yet another success with its KC-390 military transport aircraft, with Lithuania announcing an order for three multi-role KC-390s. The aircraft is gradually wrapping up the C-130 Hercules replacement market.
Related
