British airline Jet2 has placed an order for 36 Airbus A321 neo jets at an estimated market price of $4.9bn.
According to media reports, the Airbus order also contains options to purchase 24 more units. In the past month, Airbus has received total orders for 58 units from Delta and Latam Airlines. Participants believe this is mainly because of the lack of flight permissions and various safety bans for the Boeing 737 Max in many countries due to two separate crashes in 2018-2019, which were later tracked to software failures in the aircraft.
Jet2’s current order is a marked departure from the airline’s preference for Boeing aircraft. Records estimate that Jet2 currently operates 90 Boeing aircraft including 74 737-8s.
In May, Airbus anticipated recovery in air travel toward the end of 2021 and chose to retool its Toulouse factory in France to singularly produce the A321neo narrowbody airliner.