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With the dust having now settled on the Farnborough International Airshow 2026, which captured the hearts and minds of the whole aviation community last week, it is worth examining the age-old question of whether Airbus or Boeing had the better show. These two big planemakers have long been fierce rivals, and airshows like Farnborough are an ideal chance to stamp their authority with major orders.
In this article, we will focus solely on fixed-wing commercial aircraft, as these accounted for the vast majority of deals signed last week in Farnborough as airlines from around the world got their chequebooks out time and time again. As far as their respective totals were concerned, it was a relatively close battle between Airbus and Boeing, although their combined total fell some way short of expectations.
Boeing Just About Edged It In Orders
When all was said and done, 
Boeing just about triumphed over Airbus, with the US planemaker tying down a grand total of 173 firm orders for fixed-wing commercial aircraft compared to the 154 that its European rival was able to manage. The bulk of these came in the form of a 100-jet deal that it shook hands on with lessor SMBC for the 737 MAX series, consisting of 60 737 MAX 10s and 40 737 MAX 8s.
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Riyadh Air exercised 28 of its 787-9 options into firm orders, with the exciting detail that 20 of these would be converted into purchases of the 787-10. Boeing also secured deals for 15 787-10s (+five options) from Philippine Airlines, 15 787-9s from AerCap, five 777-8Fs from MSC, four 737 MAXs and four 787s from Uganda Airlines, and two 737 MAXs (+two options) from Luxair. Boeing said of the Luxair deal:
“Both the 737-8 and 737-10 are perfectly suited across Luxair’s network, increasing capacity on its regional routes, comfortably serving more passengers on more routes with the lowest cost per seat of any single-aisle airplane.”
Airbus Was Still Able To Tie Down Several Major Deals
Much like Boeing, of the 154 firm orders for fixed-wing commercial jets that Airbus was able to tie down, 100 came in the form of a narrowbody order from Irish leasing giant SMBC Aviation Capital. Indeed, the firm put its name down for 65 units of the stretched A321neo and 35 examples of the standard A320neo. Both this deal and the order for 100 Boeing 737 MAXs were announced on the Monday.
Another parallel that could be drawn between Airbus and Boeing was the fact that Philippine Airlines also put its name down for some of the European manufacturer’s widebodies. Indeed, it followed up its order for 15 Boeing 787-10s (plus five options) by committing to a further nine units of the A350-1000. Given that the carrier already flew two A350-1000s and had seven on order, this doubled its portfolio.
Elsewhere on the widebody front, Riyadh Air firmed up six A350-1000 orders alongside its aforementioned commitment for 28 Boeing 787s, while Saudi Arabian private low-cost carrier flynas firmed up commitments for five A330-900s and 20 A321neos. Airbus also secured smaller orders from Shohin Airlines, which bought two A320neos and two A321neos, and BermudAir, which committed to ten A220-300s.
Order Totals Failed To Meet Pre-Show Projections
The deals secured by Airbus and Boeing represent considerable expenditure, particularly at a time when external pressures such as war, fuel price hikes, and airspace closures are causing considerable uncertainty in the aviation sector. However, the figures seen at the show did still fall some way short of pre-event projections, with Skift noting that some commentators had expected 800 firm airliner orders.
As such, certain purchases that were rumored to be set to take place in Farnborough this year never came to fruition. For instance, Simple Flying reported earlier in July, 11 days before the start of the show, that Etihad was thought to be planning an order for ten more Boeing 787s at the event, but this was never announced. Of course, as a Middle Eastern airline, Etihad has more external pressures than most.
