ANALYSIS: Key Aircraft Orders to Watch For at the 2025 Paris Air Show

June 14, 2025

PARIS, 14 JUN | It's that time of the year again as the aviation community watches eagerly for airlines to announce their massive orders at yet another airshow. The 55th Paris Air Show will be held next week, from 16 to 22 June 2025.

In 2023, the Paris Air Show drew around 300,000 visitors, including 127,000 professionals, with a total of 1,343 new deals signed. As we approach the start of this year's edition, rumours have been flying around about potential large aircraft orders, and in this article, I will list out those which you should keep a close eye out for.

To start off, this is the rumour I personally find most interesting. AirAsia, an airline named by Skytrax as the World's Best Low-Cost Airline for the past 15 years is known for its iconic fleet of Airbus A320 family aircraft. However, this year- it could all change. According to Reuters, the airline is nearing a deal with Airbus for an order of 100 Airbus A220 aircraft. It is clear that this possible order is not a replacement for their current fleet of A320 jets, but rather to supplement them on routes to smaller destinations in Asia with lower demand. The A220 has a seating capacity of around 160 seats (in the bigger -300 variant) compared to their current A320s with a capacity of 180 seats. Despite lesser seats, the A220 has excellent fuel-efficiency and is the perfect match for the low-cost carrier to expand into smaller markets.

Next up, LOT Polish Airlines is all set to announce a new regional jet order- with a decision being made between the Airbus A220 and Embraer E195-E2. Polish Minister of Infrastructure, Dariusz Klimczak, has stated that they will announce the results of the tender procedure for the purchase of the fleet for LOT on Monday afternoon (16 June), with sources suggesting that they are leaning towards the A220 over the Brazilian jet, with about 80 orders for the type. This is interesting, especially given the fact that the airline is currently leasing 3 Embraer E195-E2 which have been in their fleet for almost a year. The airline has also had a long relationship with Embraer as the launch customer of the first generation of the E-Jets back in 2004.

Another huge order is expected from Vietnam's VietJet, which is expected to order around 100 A321neo aircraft. This is in addition to their current order of 76 A321neos and 20 A321XLRs. Just a couple weeks back, on 26 May, the airline also made an order for 20 more A330-900neo jets from Airbus "to support strategic expansion over the next decade".

Among those rumoured to order new jets is Saudi Arabia's newest airline- Riyadh Air, which is expected to order up to 50 Airbus A350 jets to support their Boeing 787s in the airline's long-haul ambitions. However, they could also potentially select Boeing's upcoming B777X instead.

Moving on, according to Reuters, Ethiopian Airlines is looking to order at least 20 regional or small narrowbody jets as it moves to expand its domestic fleet and replace some ageing aircraft. The airline's CEO stated that they are evaluating between Embraer's E2, Airbus' A220 and Boeing's B737 MAX 7. Of its short-haul fleet, the airline does have 13 Boeing 737-800s and -700s with an average age of 15.5 years and 20.4 years respectively- which are due for a replacement.

A large order is also expected for Moroccan carrier, Royal Air Maroc, is expected to place an order with Boeing for "dozens of new aircraft " for fleet renewal with more Boeing 737 MAXs and 787 Dreamliners. The airline is also rumoured to place smaller order with Airbus for about 20 A220 jets to support their short-haul ambitions, a new contrast to their fleet of Airbus A320 family jets.

India's fastest growing airline- IndiGo is also eyeing an order at the upcoming airshow, albeit not for their typical Airbus orders. The airline is in negotiations for 30 to 50 ATR72-600 jets to further support their regional operations, even as they expand internationally to their newly-announced European destinations.

The following few orders are less likely to happen, but still have a chance.

Vietnam's newest airline- Sun PhuQuoc Airways (which has yet to begin operations) is in talks with Boeing to purchase wide-body aircraft, including Boeing 787-9 and Boeing 787-10 jets, which could potentially be announced at the upcoming airshow. They will be launching operations later this year using Airbus aircraft, namely the A321neo.

Airbus is also expected to sell 6 additional Airbus A350s to EgyptAir as part of their fleet renewal process, in addition to their order of 10 of the type which was announced at the 2023 Dubai Airshow. Qatar Airways too has not ruled out an order for more Airbus A350s being placed at the upcoming airshow.

Lastly, China may place an order for up to 500 Airbus aircraft for its airlines, including both narrowbody and widebody jets. If the order amasses 500 planes, it would rank as one of the biggest ever and certainly the largest for China since an order for about 300 single-aisle Airbus jets made in 2022. However, it may be unlikely as Reuters' sources state that "negotiations are fluid and could fall apart or take longer to reach a conclusion".

India's Air India was also mentioned to be placing an order for 30-40 Boeing 777Xs or Airbus A350s, but the deal has likely been put on hold out of respect due to the recent fatal crash of an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Ahmedabad.

This year' Paris Air Show is shaping up to be very promising- with Airbus likely dominating the show. Airbus' A220 is also likely to standout this airshow, with many airlines expressing interest to order the type this airshow.

Planeopedia will be reporting live the whole of next week for the 55th Paris Air Show in Le-Bourget! Get the latest information by checking our website and socials regularly for new order announcements. We have also set up a live spreadsheet, detailing all the orders garnered for the 4 main manufacturers at the airshow, which can be accessed by the clicking here.

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Written by: Sohail Sawlani
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Sources

- Reuters
- Planespotters.net
- Wikimedia Commons