AIR TRANSPORT AND AIRPORTS
Philippine Airlines leads a thin Asia-Pacific order book at Farnborough
The region’s largest carriers held back while PAL committed to widebodies — a reflection of delivery backlogs rather than weak demand.
Aerospace Garage desk
Farnborough produced modest Asia-Pacific ordering, with Philippine Airlines the significant exception through a widebody commitment. Vietnam Airlines and two smaller Japanese carriers announced leases or orders; the region’s giants stayed quiet.
That restraint is not hesitation about demand. Airbus projects roughly 19,500 deliveries to Asia-Pacific operators through 2043, three-quarters single-aisle. The constraint is slots — order now and delivery lands in the 2030s, so several carriers are negotiating rather than announcing.
The operational consequence is already visible. Delivery delays are pushing average Asia-Pacific fleet age toward 11.4 years, which lengthens heavy-check demand and keeps older aircraft flying past their intended retirement.
Our read: an absence of orders in this market signals full backlogs, not soft demand. The airlines to watch are the ones quietly negotiating widebody replacement.
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