Skift’s Farnborough Cheat Sheet: Key Aircraft Deals Explained

The Farnborough International Airshow wrapped with a firm order tally that edged past the 2024 gathering but fell well short of the 800 aircraft some in the industry had talked up beforehand. Firm commercial aviation orders totaled around 340, alongside more than 50 preliminary deals, options and purchase rights, with Boeing holding a narrow lead over Airbus. Ongoing supply-chain constraints and production bottlenecks kept a lid on the week. As usual, a large part of the activity arrived as options, purchase rights, and conditional deals rather than firm contracts. The mood music running through the show was one of caution over capital. Lessors, not airlines, placed the largest deals, giving carriers a route to newer, more efficient aircraft without tying up their own balance sheets. Many airlines remain wary of committing cash against an uncertain backdrop of fuel prices and demand shocks. Set against that caution is a squeeze on delivery s