FARNBOROUGH — Day three of the 2024 Farnborough Air Show was slower than the start of the week. The airshow is winding down, with many aircraft returning to their owners and operators. 

These include those from Airbus, Qatar Airways (QR), British Airways (BA), Air India (AI), and Embraer, all of whom have begun making preparations to leave or have left already.

Aircraft Orders

ATR

The only order of the day came from Toulouse-based ATR. It was four ATR 72-600s for the French Polynesian carrier Air Tahiti (VT). The airline is already a loyal ATR operator, with ten ATR 74-600s and two ATR 42-600s in its possession. 

Based at Papeete’s Faa’a International Airport (PPT), these aircraft connect the many outer-lying islands of French Polynesia, including routes over three hours in length.

These new aircraft will bring their ATR fleet up to 16 aircraft, split across two types. Deliveries are due to start in 2025. This is ATR’s only order from the show so far.

General Electric

In addition to airliner orders, engine provider General Electric (GE) scored an order for eight GEnx-1B engines from Taipei-based Eva Air (BR) to power four additional Boeing 787-10s that the airline is expecting.

Sustainable, Efficient Aviation

In other news, a partnership between the Dutch national carrier, KLM (KL), and the hydrogen-electric aircraft developer ZeroAvia to evolve ZeroAvia’s ZA2000 zero emissions engine to be suitable for larger turboprop aircraft. KL plans to implement this technology into its network as and when it has matured enough to be truly viable.

Currently, ZeroAvia’s timeline outlines the 2025 availability of its technologies for 10-20 seater aircraft with a 300 nautical mile range and the evolution to  200+ seat aircraft with a 5,000 nautical mile range by 2040.

In addition, day three of FIA2024 saw Airbus announced its investment in producer of sustainable fuels technology LanzaJet as part of its mission to serve as a catalyst for the worldwide development of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).

The European manufacturer also announced it is partnering with aircraft lessor Avolon to explore the potential of hydrogen-powered aircraft.

Finally, Air Mauritius (MK) selected Airbus’ Fleet Technical Management (FTM) services to enhance the operational efficiency of its A350 and A330 fleets.

FIA2024 LIVE COVERAGE

Day three of the 2024 Farnborough Airshow has been the slowest day of the event. Many major exhibitors have begun to leave, though sufficient ground has been broken in multiple directions.

The 2024 Farnborough Airshow takes place July 22-26, so check out Airways' coverage page of FIA2024 and stay tuned for exclusive reports from our team at the Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre in the UK.

Be sure to follow us for live updates on all our social media channels #FIA2024.