Gallery: August Aircraft Orders & Deliveries

Lufthansa has taken delivery of its first Boeing 787-9. The aircraft arrived in Frankfurt on Aug. 30 and is part of a batch of five aircraft originally ordered by Hainan Airlines.

Anticipating a “post-pandemic boom,” Taiwan’s China Airlines (CAL) announced that it will acquire 16 Boeing 787-9s to be the mainstay of its medium-capacity widebody fleet as it phases out the Airbus A330s. The order will include options for eight more aircraft as well as the right to convert to 787-10s. Deliveries are expected to commence starting in 2025. The aircraft will be powered by General Electric GEnx engines.

UPS will purchase eight more Boeing 767 freighters. The incremental order will increase UPS's 767 freighter fleet to 108 airplanes, enabling the global carrier to further modernize and sustainably grow its fleet. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2025, with an additional 767-300 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) entering service in late 2023. This purchase builds on UPS's order for 19 767 freighters in December 2021.

Russia’s largest carrier, Aeroflot, plans to place an order for 323 Russian-made commercial airliners, CEO Sergey Alexandrovsky announced Aug. 26. The future deal will include 73 Superjet 100 regional jets, 210 MC-21 medium-range airliners and 40 Soviet-era Tupolev Tu-214 narrowbody airliners. According to Alexandrovsky, the airline will order both the SSJ 100 and MC-21 in a new modification with Russian engines and domestic products in place of Western-made components. These variants—SSJ NEW and MC-21-310—are now being developed by Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation. It’s unclear when the deal will be finalized, but Alexandrovsky said it was synchronized with the new government program for development of the air transport industry, which calls for the production of more than 1,000 commercial aircraft through 2030.

Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) selected the Airbus A330neo for Malaysia Airline’s widebody fleet renewal program. The initial agreements cover the acquisition of 20 A330-900 aircraft, with 10 to be purchased from Airbus and 10 to be leased from Dublin-based Avolon. Powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, the A330neo will join the carrier’s fleet of six long range A350-900s and gradually replace its 21 A330ceo aircraft. The carrier will operate the A330neo on its network covering Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East. Malaysia Airlines will configure its A330neo fleet with a premium layout seating 300 passengers in two classes.

Etihad Airways has firmed up an Airbus order for seven A350F freighters, following an earlier commitment announced at the Singapore Airshow. The freighters will upgrade Etihad’s freight capacity by deploying the most efficient cargo aircraft available in the market. This order adds to its existing order of the A350-1000, five of which have been delivered.

Australian low-cost carrier Bonza took delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX. The new carrier will launch operations to 17 destinations on 27 routes across Australia. Based in Australia’s Sunshine Coast, Bonza has signaled a commitment to add seven 737 MAX airplanes to its fleet within its first year of operation. The airline is working hard to commence flights as soon as late September subject to regulatory approval.

Ethiopian Airlines Group upsized four of its Airbus A350-900 on order to the largest variant of the A350 family, the A350-1000, becoming Africa’s first customer for the aircraft. Ethiopian Airlines has already ordered 22 A350-900s, of which 16 aircraft have been delivered. With the A350-1000 upsizing, Ethiopian Airlines’ backlog consists of four A350-1000s and two A350-900s.