Market Intelligence: -Airline Aircraft Orders

• easyJet confirms firm order of 157 additional A320neo Family aircraft, plus 100 purchase rights
• The airline will also convert 35 existing A320neo deliveries into A321neo aircraft, enabling continued growth opportunities in slot constrained airports
• The new aircraft will continue easyJet’s fleet modernisation and deliver improvements in CO2 emissions and operating costs per seat.

Following shareholder approval, easyJet has confirmed a firm order for 157 additional A320neo Family aircraft, as well as 100 purchase rights. 56 A320neo and 101 A321neo aircraft will be delivered between FY29 and FY34, while 35 A320neo already on order will be converted into larger A321neo aircraft.

The order and aircraft type conversion will provide easyJet with the opportunity to grow its capacity through a combination of incremental aircraft and accelerated upgauging to larger aircraft, as well as to complete its fleet replacement programme of older A319 aircraft and replace approximately half of the A320ceo aircraft, providing the foundation for disciplined growth and bringing cost and sustainability improvements to the business.

The airline already has 69 A320neo Family aircraft in its fleet and an existing order book with Airbus to FY29 for a further 158 A320neo Family aircraft still to be delivered. With limited delivery slots in the market for narrow body aircraft until at least 2029, confirming this order now ensures easyJet has a supply of future delivery slots between FY29 and FY34 to retain its current scale through replacing aircraft leaving the fleet and this enables easyJet to execute its growth strategy. The 100 purchase rights provides the airline with the opportunity to further grow depending on when they are delivered.

The adoption of the more efficient new technology aircraft is also a core component of easyJet’s path to net zero carbon emissions. The new aircraft will continue the modernisation of the easyJet fleet and deliver between a 13% to 30% unit fuel burn efficiency improvement, depending on which aircraft they replace. Alongside this, the new aircraft are significantly quieter, with half the noise footprint of the older aircraft they are replacing.

Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet, commented:

“We are very pleased to be able to confirm this significant order which not only enables easyJet to replace its older aircraft with more efficient aircraft, a core component of our net zero roadmap, but also provides us the ability for disciplined growth, including the significant opportunity that upgauging brings. With this order, easyJet will be able to continue to cement its leading position at Europe’s primary airports and so we look forward to working in partnership with Airbus in the years to come”

Christian Scherer, Chief Commercial Officer and Head of International at Airbus, said:

“Airbus is delighted to be accompanying easyJet in its fleet growth and renewal. Its Airbus fleet allows easyJet to differentiate its offering in its competitive market with the most state-of-the-art, modern and comfortable aircraft. easyJet and Airbus both are strong advocates for the decarbonisation of the aviation sector and so this significant investment into the most fuel efficient and SAF-capable aircraft is a testimony to our joint commitment in this respect. Bravo easyJet, and thank you!”

Minister for Industry and Economic Security Nusrat Ghani said:

“This is another huge success for our world-leading aerospace sector, proving that our plan for British manufacturing is working, helping to secure the highly-skilled jobs of the future and driving economic growth.

“The UK is one of the best places to invest, and this deal for easyJet is another shot in the arm for UK manufacturing, following a string of recent airline announcements and over £6 billion of recent private investment wins, including from Tata and Nissan.”

About easyJet

easyJet is Europe’s leading airline offering a unique and winning combination of the best route network connecting Europe’s primary airports, with great value fares and friendly service.

easyJet flies on more of Europe’s most popular routes than any other airline and carried more than 96 million passengers in 2019 – more than 16 million travelling for business. The airline has over 300 aircraft on nearly 1000 routes to more than 150 airports across 35 countries. Over 300 million Europeans live within one hour’s drive of an easyJet airport.

easyJet aims to be a good corporate citizen, employing people on local contracts in eight countries across Europe in full compliance with national laws and recognising their trade unions. The airline supports several local charities and has a corporate partnership with UNICEF which has raised over £16m for the most vulnerable children since it was established in 2012.

The airline joined the UN-backed Race to Zero in November 2021 and has published its roadmap to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with a focus on new technology and the ultimate ambition to achieve zero carbon emission flying across its entire fleet, which the airline is working on together with its partners including Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Wright Electric. The roadmap also features a combination of fleet renewal, operational efficiencies, airspace modernisation, Sustainable Aviation Fuel and carbon removal technology. Additionally, it includes an interim carbon emissions intensity reduction target of 35% by 2035. Since 2000, the airline has already reduced its carbon emissions per passenger, per kilometre by one-third through continued fleet renewal, efficient operations and aiming to fill most of its seats.

Innovation is in easyJet’s DNA – since launching over 25 years ago, easyJet changed the way people fly to the present day where the airline leads the industry in digital, web, engineering and operational innovations to make travel more easy and affordable for its passengers.

Source: easyJet
Photo Credit: easyJet