Aircraft lessor AviLease has become the latest company to place an order for the Airbus A350 freighter in a deal that will make it the joint largest owner of the model.
At today’s Paris Airshow, the Saudi Arabian company placed an order for 10 of the model, with an agreement in place for a potential of 12 more of the aircraft. The deal also included 55 Airbus A320neo passenger aircraft.
The leasing firm, which is a wholly-owned entity of Saudia Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, owns around 200 aircraft and has the ambition of becoming one of the top 10 lessors globally.
"The addition of these latest generation aircraft enhances our ability to offer modern, fuel-efficient fleet solutions to our airline partners in Saudi Arabia and around the world. We thank our local partners and Airbus for the strong long-term partnership we have established and look forward to placing these aircraft across our valued customer base,” said AviLease chief executive Edward O’Byrne.
The company is expecting a "huge retirement wave" in the freighter sector in the coming years.
Benoît de Saint-Exupéry, Airbus executive vice president for sales, commercial aircraft, added: “The A350F will set the benchmark in air cargo, offering at least 20% reduced fuel burn, better loading capacity and increased range.
"This dual order reinforces AviLease’s credentials as a leading lessor, and it demonstrates the broad appeal of our products among lessors and their airline customers.”
The A350F features the largest maindeck cargo door in the industry, with fuselage length and capacity optimised around the industry’s standard pallets and containers.
More than 70% of the airframe is made of advanced materials, helping to reduce the takeoff weight, while at launch, it will be the only freighter aircraft that will fully meet ICAO’s enhanced CO₂ emissions standards, coming into effect in 2027.
Airbus announced in February this year that it would push back the entry-into-service date of its A350 freighter to the second half of 2027, from its earlier expectation of 2026.
Back in May 2023, the company also shifted the A350F entry into service date from the end of 2025 to 2026.
As of May, the company has firm orders for 63 A350 freighters, with 60 of them attributed to 10 identified customers.
Taiwan-based Starlux has also ordered 10 of the model, while Etihad has a confirmed order of seven, but it is also understood to have added a further three to its order, although these are yet to show up in Airbus' order tracker.
