The agreement is subject to the approval of the board of directors, which is expected by the end of June next year. The airlines did not disclose the value of the transaction. Qantas will continue to purchase Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft for long-haul connections.
–
Airbus deliveries will begin in mid-2023 and will continue for the next ten years. Airbus will replace an aging fleet of 75 Boeing 737s and 20 Boeing 717s, Qantas said, adding that the new planes will also reduce its carbon footprint. Qantas has operated Boeing aircraft since 1959 and was once the only airline in the world to have only Boeing 747 long-haul aircraft in its fleet.
–
For the European aircraft manufacturer, this means a big victory and the continuation of a successful week. Singapore Airlines pledged to buy seven A350s on Wednesday, and now it is expected that Dutch airlines KLM will also order shorter distances, which will also switch from Boeing to this type of aircraft.
–
The fact that the Australian airline has preferred Airbus is a blow to the 737 MAX aircraft, which is Boeing’s best-selling model. It disrupts its strong sales series since the end of last year, when the machine returned to service. Boeing is losing market share in short-haul aircraft to Airbus, Reuters reported.
–
The US aircraft manufacturer was forced to shut down 737 MAX aircraft worldwide in March 2019, following accidents in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The decommissioning of these aircraft is the longest such break in the history of civil aviation.
—
