Enough to reassure the thousands of French Airbus employees about their future.
The Air France-KLM group announced Thursday a firm order for 100 Airbus A320neo to equip the KLM and Transavia fleets, a new major setback for Boeing, which has so far been equipping these companies with single aisles.
The giant order, along with acquisition rights for 60 additional aircraft and a letter of intent for four A350F Cargo long-haul aircraft, comes less than 24 hours after Airbus wrested the medium-sized market from its American rival. couriers from Qantas (Australia), another huge contract. Indeed, the Australian airline Qantas announced on Wednesday an agreement in principle with Airbus to acquire up to 134 A320 and A220 aircraft, as part of the renewal of its medium-haul fleet, which will replace its Boeing 737s.
For Air France-KLM, the decision of such an acquisition, for a theoretical amount of more than 10 billion dollars at the list price - never applied - of Airbus for the A320neo family, reflects "the ambition of the group to improve its economic and environmental performance through the use of latest generation devices ”.
A hard blow for Boeing
In addition, "the group has also demonstrated its ability to generate synergies in the field of purchasing," noted the Franco-Dutch company in a press release: in short, to rationalize its fleet, which is also a guarantee of savings. in terms of operation.
In fact, until now, Air France has only operated medium-haul Airbus (A320 and A220), while the Dutch company KLM and Transavia, the “low-cost” of the group, have used so-called “NG” Boeing 737s. », The generation preceding the 737 MAX, the big loser of Thursday's announcement.
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“This order relates to Airbus A320neo and Airbus A321neo.
The first deliveries are expected during the second half of 2023 ″, Air France-KLM said.
From the same source, "these aircraft will provide medium-haul connections in Europe, in particular from Amsterdam-Schiphol, KLM hub and main base of Transavia Netherlands, and from Paris-Orly, main base of Transavia France".
"We are very proud of this decision and to be part of the future of these emblematic airlines that are Air France, KLM and Transavia", declared for his part the commercial director of Airbus, Christian Scherer, quoted in a press release. of the European aircraft manufacturer.
