Aviation Leaders Come Together at the 2019 Dubai Airshow

No airshow is complete without some active trade moments with deals, announcements, agreements, etc. going around through the course of the event and the 2019 Dubai Airshow was no different. Below are some of those major highlights that happened during the Dubai Airshow:

• Emirates Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum made an order to Airbus of 50 A350-900s worth $16 billion at list prices. The deliveries are to start in 2023 and continue till 2028. Emirates also signed a purchase agreement $8.8 billion for 30 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. The new Dreamliners are also to start being delivered in 2023 and span five years. Emirates still has 126 of Boeing’s 777Xs on order and remains the world’s largest 777 operator with 155 of the twinjet in its fleet. The new agreement also covered the provision of 777 spare parts by Boeing Global Services.
• A deal worth $14 billion was signed by Air Arabia with Airbus for a purchase of 120 new aircraft, consisting of A320neos, A321neos and A321 XLRs. The airline currently operates mainly from Sharjah with a fleet of 53 Airbus aircraft.
• Airbus was probably among the most benefitted one at the 2019 Dubai Airshow. While the manufacturer unveiled interesting initiatives towards its sustainability commitment, it also announced new business for its wide-body and singleaisle commercial jetliners, alongside bagging various orders.
• Airbus’ A220 enthralled new African customer as it signed a letter of intent covering eight of the A220-300 variant from Air Senegal to start deliveries in 2021. A220 has a list price of $81 million apiece. Apart from regional and intra-continental services, Air Senegal plans to fly the airplanes from Dakar to European destinations.
• Saudi Arabia’s Flynas signed a firm order for ten A321XLRs, raising its total order count for A320-family jets to 90. The order is a conversion of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed at June’s Paris Airshow.
• EasyJet, Europe’s second-biggest budget airline, used it purchase rights to enhance its fleet of A320neos with 12 new aircraft, taking its total order count for the A320neo family to 159 aircraft and its overall orders for A320-family jets to 480.

• Boeing and the Republic of Ghana signed an MoU for three airplanes with a list price value of $877.5 million as the country intends to re-launch an airline starting with the 787-9 Dreamliner.
• Boeing also announced at the Dubai Airshow services, orders and agreements with leading airlines and governments including Egypt Apache, TAAG Angola Airlines and FlySAFAIR. FlySAFAIR joined over 300 international customers using Boeing Maintenance Performance Toolbox to access their fleets’ real-time digital maintenance data and engineering and certification information.
• The manufacturer sold of a pair of 787-9s worth $585 million at list price to Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
• LATAM Airlines Group, one of Latin America’s leading passenger and cargo airlines, announced multiyear agreements that will provide LATAM access to Boeing’s global supply chain for 787 and 777 Landing Gear Exchange services.
• Boeing previously announced agreements with EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, Etihad Airways, and Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) at the show for a range of aircraft lifecycle solutions spanning Global Services’ robust suite of offerings, including landing gear, engine support, digital solutions, and materials parts access.
• Air Astana’s intent to order 30 Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes to serve as the backbone of its new low-cost airline FlyArystan was also announced during the show.
• Egyptian flag carrier, EGYPTAIR also announced to lease two more 787-9 jets from leading lessor AerCap.
• SunExpress too exercised it options for 10 additional Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes to continue renewing its fleet and growing its position in the leisure travel industry.

• Honeywell Aerospace signed a deal with Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines (MEA) to provide flight deck avionics suites for 19 aircraft MEA has ordered from Airbus including eleven A321neos, four A330neos, and four A321XLRs. The airline also serves as the launch customer for the XLR and the Honeywell contract also puts the company among the first flight deck technology suppliers for the newly launched aircraft. Honeywell’s integrated multi-mode receiver, IntuVue RDR- 4000 weather radar, Pegasus II flight management system, emergency locator transmitter, and enhanced ground proximity warning system as part of the suites will be provided under the deal. Saudi Arabian Airlines, Saudia also extended its partnership with Honeywell to include maintenance services for auxiliary power units (APUs) installed on the airline’s Airbus A330s and Boeing 777s.
• Sales of three Dash 8-400 turboprops from De Havilland Canada were also announced to Elin Group of Nigeria in a deal worth US$99million. While Palma Holding, a Dubai-based property leasing company signed a letter of intent to purchase 20 of the De Havilland Dash 8-400s. Once the purchase agreement is finalized, Palma would become the first lessor worldwide to order the Dash 8-400 turboprops in a dual-class configuration.
• Nigeria’s Air Peace topped up its fleet with the purchase of three Embraer 195-E2s, while Egyptian lessor CIAF purchased three E190s and Omani low-cost carrier SalamAir agreed the lease of two Airbus A321 Neos from GECAS.
• Collins Aerospace received a contract by the Indian start-up carrier, FlyBig to provide its Arinc PaxLink system covering reservations and inventory management, distribution and departure control with “one integrated cloud-based system”. FlyBig is expected be operational with PaxLink by the first quarter of 2020. Collins also signed a 10-year support agreement with Etihad Airways covering the airline’s fleet of Boeing 787-9s, which will be included in Collins’s Dispatch flight-hour maintenance programme. Collins Aerospace will provide “critical on-site spares, maintenance services including upgrades, access to worldwide 787 asset pools, and technical assistance for avionics.”
• Another agreement was announced between GE Aviation and Sanad Aerotech for the Abu Dhabi-based MRO to provide maintenance services for GE’s GEnx-1B engines as well as continued time (quick turn) overhauls on CFM International’s Leap engines, both of which power next-generation narrowand wide-body airliners.
• Dubai-based Empire Aviation Group (EAG) launched a fresh aircraft management arm in Egypt and has also received approval to provide continuing airworthiness management organization (CAMO) services for third party operators, the company announced at the Dubai Airshow.