JAL finalized an order for 31 Airbus aircraft including 20 A350-900s and 11 A321neos, the two companies announced on July 23, 2024, at the Farnborough International Airshow. The order follows an order for Boeing 787s and was first outlined in the airline’s strategy announced in March 2024.
The A350-900s will join JAL’s existing fleet of 15 A350-900s (and one more on order to replace the aircraft lost in the January 2024 accident), all of which are used on domestic routes. The new A350-900s will be used on international flights alongside JAL’s new flagship A350-1000s, which it inaugurated in January 2024. Currently, the airline has three A350-1000s with 10 more on order.
Airbus is expected to gradually deliver the A350-900s to JAL over approximately six years starting in FY2027 (year starting on April 1, 2025).
According to the airline’s statement, the 11 A321neos will be used to replace the airline’s aging Boeing 767-300ERs used on domestic routes. Deliveries of the aircraft will start in 2028 and the aircraft “will primarily be deployed on routes to and from Haneda Airport,” said the airline’s statement.
“We thank Japan Airlines for placing its confidence once again in A350. In addition, we celebrate a new milestone in our partnership with the airline following its order for A321neo,” said Christian Scherer, the CEO of Airbus’s Commercial Aircraft business, referring to the fact that the A321neo will be the first narrowbody aircraft type to enter JAL’s fleet.
The two new orders confirmed at the Farnborough International Airshow this year combined with the airline’s undelivered A350-1000s and existing order for 21 Boeing 737-8 aircraft placed in March 2023, bring JAL’s order backlog to over 70 aircraft.
