Airbus demonstrated demand for its A330neo during the Farnborough air show, as the backlog for the twinjet shows signs of an uptick after five years of trending downwards.
Orders for the re-engined aircraft reached 337 at the end of 2019, as strong activity and a delivery ramp-up followed the initial handover to Portugal’s TAP the year before.
But the backlog – which stood at 293 five years ago – declined to 175 by the close of 2023, as the Covid-19 pandemic caused havoc in the long-haul market.
Over the three years from 2020-22 the airframer’s orders for 42 A330neos were wiped out by 91 cancellations.
These cancellations included more than 60 from AirAsia – a carrier which had strongly backed development of the aircraft.
Production rates for the A330 line dropped to just two aircraft per month as the pandemic set in, halting the A330neo’s ramp-up momentum.
Airbus also recorded 28 A330neo cancellations from Iran Air last year, as an order which was placed in 2016 – but subsequently overtaken by political events – was removed from its books.
Three years ago, Airbus chief Guillaume Faury had conceded that the airframer was “on the back foot” with regard to A330neo production.
But the output has been edging upward – the company delivered 29 A330neos last year – and just before the Farnborough show Faury insisted the twinjet is not “lacking orders”, even arguing that its backlog could benefit from constrained supply of higher-capacity single-aisle jets.
Asian budget carrier Vietjet firmed orders for 20 A330s during the show, while Saudi Arabian operator Flynas provisionally agreed to take 15 – at least according to Airbus, because Flynas puts the figure at 30, possibly through the inclusion of options.
Virgin Atlantic signed for a further seven A330-900s, the larger member of the A330neo family, while Airbus unveiled plans to use the smaller -800 – which has been relatively unpopular as a passenger aircraft – as the platform for a modernised multi-role tanker transport, succeeding the MRTT which is based on the A330-200.
Airbus’s overall orders for the A330neo going into the show – a total of 319 aircraft, with a backlog of 185 – included 42 assigned to undisclosed customers. The airframer has yet to confirm how much of the Farnborough activity amounts to new business.
