Airbus's August 2021 order book changes revealed

Air France-KLM to order 50+40 A350s

Air France-KLM has announced its intention to order fifty A350s directly from Airbus with a further forty purchase rights. Deliveries of the firm-ordered jets are expected between 2026 and 2030. The aircraft will allow the holding to replace its previous-generation A330 and B777 types, rendering the Franco-Dutch holding the world's largest A350 Family operator.

The holding said the order would include both A350-900s and A350-1000s but did not provide an exact split. The widebodies will be operated by both Air France (AF, Paris CDG) and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol) but did not disclose any exact details, saying only that it would have the "flexibility to allocate aircraft within its portfolio of airlines, according to market dynamics and local regulatory conditions".

The new order will come on top of an existing commitment for forty-one A350-900s for Air France (of which 22 are currently in service) and eight A350Fs for Air France and Martinair (MP, Amsterdam Schiphol) (none in service yet). Seven A350-900s were initially...

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Air Canada orders 18+12 B787-10s, drops B777Fs

Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau) has ordered eighteen B787-10s from Boeing (BOE, Washington National) with options for a further twelve. The carrier simultaneously nixed its July 2022 order for two B777-200Fs, as it no longer plans to deploy the type.

Deliveries of the largest B787 variant are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2025 with the entire firm-ordered batch due to be completed by the first quarter of 2027. The airline did not disclose the configuration of its future B787-10s.

Air Canada said the B787-10s will replace older, less efficient widebodies, while the optioned aircraft will provide additional flexibility to meet future demand.

The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows the carrier's previous-generation widebody fleet currently comprises eighteen A330-300s, six B777-200(LR)s, nineteen B777-300(ER)s, eight B787-8s, and thirty B787-9s. Air Canada has two remaining B787-9s on firm order from Boeing, as well as thirty long-range narrowbody A321-200NY(XLR)s from Airbus.

The airline's freighter fleet comprises four B767-300ER(BDSF)s and two B767-300F...

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