The “2018 Farnborough Airshow,” an aviation and spacecraft industry exhibition held in London, UK, has ended on July 22. Both top companies Boeing and Airbus got more orders than the previous “Paris Air Show” in 2017 as a result of the demands in small aircrafts among the economical airlines of the developing countries. The MRJ from Mitsubishi Aircraft made its debut to the world’s eyes in the air show on the third day. 

After the Farnborough Airshow, Boeing received 673 orders and commitments in total, of which 145 were pre-show orders, and exceeding 571 orders received in Paris Air Show 2017. Most of the orders came from VietJet, a Vietnamese economical airline, that had ordered over 100 aircrafts, of which 80 were the latest model “737 MAX 10.”   

Airbus received 431 orders and commitments in total, exceeding 326 orders received in Paris Air Show 2017. The orders were for 304 small aircrafts of “A320” series and over 100 aircrafts of the latest model like “A320neo” series, some of which from an undisclosed customer. In addition, the “A220” or former Bombardier’s “C Series” acquired by Airbus in July were ordered from an emerging airline in the USA.

Nonetheless, Boeing did not disclose any progress on the new aircraft model, a mixture between the “787” and the “737MAX” models. To this regard, the CEO Dennis Muilenburg answered the press on the 15th, which was the opening day, that “We will have it ready to operate by 2025.” 

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Aircraft did not receive orders during the exhibition. On the 16th, a company’s aircraft had a contact accident with a towing vehicle causing the damage in the nose of the plane, resulting in the cancellation of the flight exhibition on the 17th. Emergency measures were carried out on the 18-19th. MRJ, however, succeeded in the flying demonstration to regain the customer’s confidence on the last day. 

The fact that the company did not receive more orders resulted from the delay in aircraft developments. The flying demonstration in the exhibition was a good opportunity for the company to show all the airlines its aircraft potentials, especially with the strengths of how silent the aircraft operates. Mr. Hisakazu Mizutani, the CEO of Mitsubishi Aircraft, expressed his opinion that “We will certainly develop our aircrafts continuously up until the Paris Air Show in June of 2019 and we are in the process of acquire a Type Certification, which is the time that we have to proceed cautiously.”