Preliminary figures from Flight Fleets Analyzer show there were 37 new orders booked during August – predominantly the firming up of preliminary commitments made during June’s Paris air show. There were also a dozen swaps, resulting in a relatively quiet month for net orders, 72% down on August 2016.
Boeing received new orders for 24 units during the month, while Airbus secured 10 commitments – entirely for narrowbody models.
Narrowbody orders included 24 Boeing 737s, including 20 for the Max variant. That total included the firming up of orders for 10 737 Max aircraft from two lessors first disclosed at Le Bourget: Singapore-based BOC Aviation signed for 10 Max 10s, while Japan’s JP Lease Products & Services firmed an order for Max 8s.
Turkish leisure carrier SunExpress, meanwhile, swapped an earlier order for seven 737NGs to the re-engined variant.
Airbus formally recorded 10 additional A321s for budget airline Wizz Air, in an otherwise-quiet August period. The central European carrier had also originally disclosed the agreement during the Paris air show.
There were no widebody aircraft orders or cancellations in August, meaning that a total of 140 net orders have been logged in this category over the first eight months of the year.
The only regional aircraft orders in August were for three Viking Air Series 400 Twin Otters ordered by Fiji Link.
At the end of August, the overall order backlog stood at 14,351: down 77 on the previous month. Airbus and Boeing aircraft account for 46% and 39% of this total respectively, leaving the remaining 15% to other manufacturers.
Fleets Analyzer shows that there were 133 commercial aircraft deliveries during August – a decrease of 8% on the same month the previous year.
With 70 units in total, customers in the Asia-Pacific region took more than half of the monthly deliveries. Mainline and low-cost operators accounted for 76 and 36 of the shipments, respectively.
There were 85 narrowbody aircraft delivered in August, along with 27 widebody units. Regional deliveries accounted for 13 jets and eight turboprops.
Boeing shipped 48 737s, including five more Max 8s – the first delivery of which took place in May, to Malindo Air.
Airbus delivered 35 A320-family aircraft, including seven re-engined A320neos and a single A321neo. Bombardier shipped two units of its CSeries narrowbody.
The global commercial passenger in-service fleet is now approaching the 26,000-unit mark. Together with the global freighter fleet, there are more than 28,000 aircraft currently in operation.
The in-service fleet in the Asia-Pacific region has passed 8,300, and is now fewer than 70 units short of the highest-ranking region: North America.
Slightly more than 3,000 additional aircraft are currently parked.
North America’s fleet share slips as Asia-Pacific catches up
The global commercial fleet has grown by more than 5,400 units – more than 20% – over the decade since September 2008.
North America retains the biggest inventory, but its lead over other regions has eroded substantially. Its share of the total fleet, both for in-service and parked aircraft, was 37% – around 9,500 aircraft – in September 2008. The fleet later dipped to near 9,000, but today stands at 9,600: a 30% share of the global fleet.
European operators had the second-largest fleet from 2008 to 2013, but have now been overtaken by the Asia-Pacific region.
North America currently has more than 1,200 aircraft in storage, while Asia-Pacific operators have about 430. Looking at their in-service fleets only, the two regions are now head-to-head, in the 8,300-unit range.
Data reporting by Antoine Fafard
Source: Flight International
