After last week’s Flight Friday analysis showcased that international flights are back to 2019 levels, this week we look at the passenger widebody market, and the “resurgence” that is happening.
For the last, almost five years, the narrowbody has been seen as the “King” or “Queen” of the passenger market, with almost 8,500 gross orders since 2019. However, 2023 was a good year for the passenger widebody market with almost 750 gross orders, which equates to around half of all the gross orders since the beginning of 2019.
Listen now: Podcast - What's Behind The Widebody Order Buzz?
Flight hours show that, when aggregated to a quarterly level, Q1 2024 is higher than Q1 2020—which did include the early throes of the pandemic. The data also shows that Boeing accounts for almost 60% of the aggregated flight hours in Q1 2024. These figures can also be reflected when we look at the current outstanding orderbook, with Boeing accounting for 60% of the current passenger widebody backlog.
With operators potentially having to wait into the 2030’s for a new-build narrowbody, and some operators looking to create mega hubs that replicate the business model of the Gulf carriers, is the time right for some continued widebody order activity?
With the upcoming Farnborough Airshow, we might expect a few top up widebody orders as operators look to get in the queue for a new-build before the end of the decade—unless it’s a Boeing 777X, which has yet to gain type certification and is currently penciled in for 2025, with a more than likely entry into service in 2026.
This data was put together using Aviation Week’s Tracked Aircraft Utilization tool.
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