Jet orders boom as airlines fear shortage

Jet orders boom as airlines fear shortage

PARIS - Planemakers can't build them but airlines can't stop buying them.

Even as they wrestle with industrial problems preventing the delivery of jets sold before the pandemic, Airbus and Boeing are totting up billions of dollars of new orders stretching beyond 2030 amid a rebound in air travel.

From Air India to Ireland's Ryanair and a new national airline in Saudi Arabia, a handful of carriers have placed firm or provisional orders for 700 jets.

Turkish Airlines' surprise announcement on Thursday that it plans to order 600 jets in June spells what would be the fourth mega-deal in a few months - upstaging Air India's record order for 470 Airbus and Boeing jetliners.

Turkey's national champion last month announced a 10-year strategic plan including a goal of 170 million passengers by 2033, compared to over 85 million in 2023.

"They are aspiring to build a mega-connector airline from everywhere in Europe to everywhere in Asia and Africa," said Rob Morris, head of global consultancy at UK-based Ascend by Cirium.

That would intensify a battle for connecting traffic between Istanbul's hub and rival centres in Europe and the Middle East.

The announcement surprised many in the industry, however.

U.S. industry analyst Richard Aboulafia highlighted its timing - days