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AIRBUS

Airbus’ Commercial Aircraft deliveries in 2017 were up for the 15th year in a row, reaching a new record of 718 aircraft delivered to 85 customers. Deliveries were more than four percent higher than the previous record of 688 set in 2016. Airbus achieved 1,109 net orders from 44 customers. At the end of 2017 Airbus’ overall backlog stood at 7,265 aircraft valued at $1.059 trillion at list prices.

Airbus made its first A400M Atlas transport aircraft delivery of 2018 with the number of deliveries of the Atlas made by the firm now standing at 56. The aircraft was delivered to the German Air Force, bringing to 15 the total number now operated by Berlin out of a total order of 53 units ordered.

Following an MoU signed at Le Bourget Paris Airshow in June 2017, Viva Air, the Latin America low cost carrier group owned by Irelandia Aviation, has signed a purchase agreement with Airbus for 50 A320 Family aircraft. The 35 A320neo and 15 A320ceo will be operated by the group’s airlines VivaColombia and Viva Air Peru.

Airbus has announced that it had finalised agreements with Indigo Partners and its four portfolio airlines for the purchase of 430 additional A320neo Family aircraft for ultra-low-cost airlines Frontier Airlines (US), JetSMART (Chile), Volaris (Mexico) and Wizz Air (Hungary). The signed purchase agreement follows a MoU among the parties announced at the Dubai Air Show in November 2017.

BOEING

Boeing has unveiled its Mach 5 hypersonic demonstrator concept, dubbed the ‘Son of Blackbird’, the aircraft features a delta-wing and builds on the two decades of hypersonic demonstrator experience Boeing gained from the X-43 and X-51A projects, as well as the XB-70 bomber programme. The design is aimed at also providing a hypersonic successor to the long-retired SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft, aimed for the late 2020s.

Boeing has unfurled a new unmanned electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) cargo air vehicle prototype. Powered by an environmentally-friendly electric propulsion system with eight counter rotating blades allowing for vertical flight, the vehicle is designed to transport a payload up to 500 pounds and will aid in future cargo and logistic applications. The eVTOL will be used as a flying test-bed to mature the building blocks of autonomous technology for future applications.

Boeing and flydubai have finalised the purchase of 175 Boeing 737 MAX airplanes in the largest single-aisle jet order in Middle East history. The deal which includes options for an additional 50 jets, is valued at $27 billion at current list prices. This was announced as a commitment at the 2017 Dubai Airshow.

The Boeing Company and Brazil’s Embraer have confirmed that the two companies are engaged in discussions regarding a potential combination, the basis of which remains under discussion. There is no guarantee a transaction will result from these discussions.