Dubai Airshow, Day 1: Over 200 New Aircraft Ordered 

The first day of the Dubai Airshow was Monday and Boeing won the day. The aircraft manufacturer received orders, big and small, from five customers, while Airbus announced only one order. 

SunExpress, the Turkish leisure carrier, kicked things off, and a stream of orders continued through the day. Here is a roundup of all the orders placed Monday: 

1. SunExpress ordered 45 737 MAX along with 45 options: Turkish leisure carrier SunExpress, a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, placed a firm order for 28 737-8 and 17 737-10 aircraft with Boeing. The airline also retained options for up to 45 additional 737 MAX aircraft.

SunExpress is a Boeing-only operator and already has an order for 42 737-8 aircraft, nine of which have been delivered.

Over the next decade, SunExpress will more than double its fleet, intending to have a 150-aircraft fleet by 2033. The airline seems especially excited to add the 737-10 variant to its fleet, which can seat up to 230 passengers. 

2. Emirates ordered an additional 90 777X aircraft and updated its 787 choices: Home airline Emirates ordered 90 widebody aircraft on Day 1 of the airshow with Boeing. The airline signed firm orders for 55 additional 777-9 aircraft and 35 777-8 aircraft.

The airline now has 205 777X aircraft on order. Emirates expects the first 777-9 to join its fleet in 2025, and the airline will continue to induct them until 2035. These aircraft will be used to replace the existing 777 fleet and for the airline’s growth.

Emirates is also set to be one of the launch customers of the 777-8 aircraft, with first deliveries expected in 2030. Emirates also updated its previous order of 30 Boeing 787-9 aircraft, increasing its commitment to a total of 35 Dreamliners comprising 15 787-10 and 20 787-8 aircraft.

Emirates confirmed an order of 202 GE9X engines to power the additional 777X aircraft ordered today, taking its total GE9X engine order to 460 units. 

3. Flydubai placed its first widebody order for 30 787-9 Dreamliners: Flydubai, which is a regional airline operating only narrow-bodies, ordered 30 787-9 aircraft as it decided to add wide-body aircraft to its fleet. Flydubai currently operates an all-737 fleet of 79 airplanes and expects the 787s to join its fleet from 2026 onwards. The airline has an order backlog of 137 737s.

4. Royal Jordanian added four 787-9 to its existing backlog: Royal Jordanian today decided to add an additional four 787-9 aircraft, bringing its total 787-9 backlog to six. Royal Jordanian already has seven 787-8 aircraft in its fleet. 

5. Royal Air Maroc confirmed an order for two 787-9 aircraft: Royal Air Maroc, the North African carrier, added an additional two 787-9 aircraft to its orderbook. The airline already operates a mix of -8 and -9 variants of the 787 aircraft.  

6. airBaltic ordered 30 A220-300 aircraft along with 20 options: Latvia’s national carrier, airBaltic, ordered 30 Airbus A220-300 aircraft and an additional 20 options. With this order, airBaltic intends to operate a fleet of 100 A220-300 aircraft by 2030, making it the largest A220-300 operator in the world. 

Alongside the large order flow for Boeing, there was also a lease transaction that was announced. Air Lease Corporation announced long-term lease contracts for 18 new Boeing 737-8 aircraft with EgyptAir.

These Boeing aircraft are confirmed to be delivered to the airline from 2025 through 2026 from Air Lease’s order book with Boeing. This is the first deal between ALC, the Egyptian flag carrier, and the first 737-8 addition to the EgyptAir fleet.

Overall, more than 200 new aircraft orders were placed on Day one of the Dubai Airshow, and more are in the offing. Amongst the big orders still expected to be announced are the mega order from Turkish Airlines for Airbus and orders from Riyadh Air, IndiGo and Akasa Air.