Full article on economist.com
Though clearly not welcome news for Boeing, the decision by former customer Pegasus, Turkey's fast-expanding low-cost carrier, to select the Airbus A320neo for its fleet renewal—spurning the Boeing 737 MAX—will be neither surprising nor unduly alarming. True, Airbus has notched up 1,654 firm orders for the neo against 969 for the MAX. But Airbus had a nine-month head-start with its next-generation narrow-body aircraft. Looking at total orders across all types, Boeing is on track to outsell Airbus this year: the first time it has done so since 2006.
What is more interesting is the size of Pegasus's commitment—100 aircraft, comprising firm orders for 58 A320neos and 17 larger A321neos, plus 25 options. The airline's chairman, Ali Sabanci, describes it as "the biggest order in the history of Turkish civil aviation", which is no mean feat given the spending spree Turkey's flag-carrier has also embarked on...
