This week, the Paris Air Show 2025 took place, a key event within the aviation industry. Between Boeing & Airbus, it wasn’t a contest. Check out our full comprehensive review!
There was some significant highlights and news that came out of Le Bourget, indicating some insight into what the future is going to look like moving forward.
Without further ado let’s get into it…
Order Numbers From The Paris Air Show 2025…
| Manufacturer | Pre-Show | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Totals |
| Boeing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Airbus | 0 | 238 | 150 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 394 |
| Embraer | 50 | 0 | 0 | 166 | 0 | 0 | 216 |
| ATR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
Boeing’s Quiet Paris Air Show 2025…
Air India Crash Set The Tone For Their PAS2025…
Boeing had an extremely quiet time at the Paris Air Show 2025. And this was for very good reason as well.
The week before the air show, Air India flight AI171, bound for London Gatwick from Ahmedabad, crashed not long after departure.
Of the 242 people onboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, just one survived the crash, with others killed on the ground as well.
As a result of this crash, senior executives at the air show opted to stay at their HQ, rather than showcase any potential orders that they had secured.
And this was definitely the right move from a PR perspective as well.
The American planemaker didn’t want to be seen negatively by showcasing such orders after a major air accident had taken place.
Were There Orders to Disclose?
There is the potential for orders to have been revealed.
For example, in their orders and deliveries book for May 2025, 303 new orders were tallied, which was their highest in two years.
It was expected that a big chunk of that number would have represented the orders revealed at the Paris Air Show 2025.
These orders will no doubt be revealed in due time once things have calmed down on the Air India crash front.
This accident came at a point where Boeing have been trying to get themselves back on the front foot, off the back of a tumultuous few years with the 737 MAX and also with delays to their 777X program as well.
It is unclear also what this will mean for Boeing moving forward.
They had a strong opportunity to increase their sales presence, which has now been dominated at the air show by their European competitor Airbus.
Looking ahead, if the potential claim is correct surrounding the May 2025 numbers, it will be interesting to see what sort of orders Boeing had scored and what they were supposed to be revealing at the Paris Air Show.
Airbus Thrives on Home Turf…
Ordersheet for Airbus…
A Solid Campaign…
Airbus had a strong showing at the Paris Air Show 2025, granted the numbers weren’t as high as in previous air shows in the past.
They managed to secure some solid orders in Saudi Arabia from the Public Investment Firm (PIF)-backed Avilease and Riyadh Air for the A350 and A320 Family aircraft.
Furthermore, the PIF went shopping at the Paris Air Show and have deals secured for another 127 aircraft into their order books.
Airbus had also made some more headway with their A350 program as well, selling close to 100 units of the type, with their Freighter variant gaining some more on the backlog as well.
The biggest highlight of the manufacturer’s week was their deal with LOT Polish Airlines, scoring their first ever deal with the Polish carrier.
Overall, 20 A220-100s and 20 A220-300s were purchased on a firm basis, with options for another 44 more.
This will come to a blow for Boeing, as the carrier had utilised the likes of the 737 MAX and 787, with no additional orders secured with the American planemaker for this, that we know at this time.
Moreover, the largest order of the week for Airbus came from VietJet, who ordered 100 A321neos, with options for 50 more.
This represented a strong statement for the narrowbody program.
Overall, Airbus didn’t exactly need to have a solid week, but established enough sales momentum that they are the manufacturer to beat at the moment.
Also, with orders covered for their A220, A350 and A320neo Family, it highlights how strong their product offering currently is.
Embraer managed to get some business in one day before the air-show started.
Via their EVE Air Mobility wing, they announced it’s first binding agreement with Revo & Omni Helicopters International for 50 units plus aftermarket services for their UAM program.
For the show itself, they were able to assert some dominance on their commercial programs but also on their eVTOL wing too.
Regional One started off with an order for two E190 Freighters, doubling their existing intake at present.
The biggest highlight for Embraer was via their deal announced with SkyWest, who ordered another 60 E175-E1s, with options for 50 more.
EVE Air Mobility also managed to secure another solid order during the official trading period of the Paris Air Show.
They signed a deal with Future Flight Global for 54 EVE Air Mobility aircraft, meaning that over 100 units of the type had been sold over the course of the trading period.
Whilst it has been an active sales campaign for Embraer at the Paris Air Show, their E2 program could have acquired some more orders.
They did reveal that South Africa’s Airlink would become a customer to the E2 program, but this was off the back of a leasing arrangement with Azorra, who ordered the E2 in previous air shows.
Questions do continue for Embraer over the sales momentum for the E2 program.
Looking ahead to future air-shows, all eyes will be on whether they will be able to attract more regional carriers to that program in the future ahead.
ATR Makes Some Headway, But is it Enough?…
ATR had somewhat of a quiet Paris Air Show 2025 in terms of orders.
However, they did reveal a few product announcements, which may have counter-acted that some-what.
The only new order that they revealed to the press in Le Bourget was through their expanded partnership with Texas-based carrier JSX, who will be leasing two ATR 42-600s, but also placed a firm order for 15 ATR aircraft, with options for 10 more.
On the aircraft order specifically, it is unclear whether JSX will take the 42 or the 72.
Order numbers were low, but ATR has a healthy backlog already off the back of previous air show successes.
What was worth noting was the lack thereof of the STOL variant.
It looks as if ATR has abandoned this project amid lack of interest from regional carriers.
However, this may not matter as much if they are still securing orders for their standard 42 and 72 aircraft.
The IndiGo Rumour Didn’t Materialise…
On top of this, there was a very strong rumour that IndiGo was expected to make an order for 50 ATR aircraft.
However, this never came to fruition. Are details still being negotiated? Did IndiGo hold back due to the Air India crash?
Or was it literally just rumour? Regardless of what it actually was, it does show the level of potential demand that ATR has with their 42 and 72 aircraft.
Deals will no doubt be still negotiated in the background, but whether and when they will come to fruition post-air show is still unclear.
Looking ahead, all eyes will be on what the sales performance will look like for ATR as we continue to progress throughout the year. But for now, things remain quiet, but no doubt are very busy in the background.
Overall Thoughts on the Paris Air Show 2025…
It is clear that this year’s edition of the Paris Air Show 2025 has been quiet, but a lot of external pressures at play are contributing to this.
Airbus has continued to dominate despite these pressures, and Embraer is still continuing it’s successes in the E1 market, granted the E2 sales strategy may need some work.
As for Boeing, this was an opportunity to see them shine, but the bad timing from a PR view with the Air India crash put that to bed very quickly.
The next air show will be hosted at Farnborough in 2026, where all manufacturers will now begin the work to get sales negotiated and potentially announced, in order to acquire that 1st place figure in terms of order numbers.
But one thing is for sure – Airbus dominated this year at Le Bourget, and they dominated hard.