Airbus seals deals with big buyers, following Boeing's MAX sale

Airbus sealed deals with big buyers for its latest passenger jet at the Paris Airshow on Wednesday, battling back a day after a surprise order by BA’s owner for rival Boeing’s grounded 737 MAX jet. Indigo Partners, the private equity firm of veteran low-cost airline investor Bill Franke, and American Airlines each signed up for 50 of Airbus’s new long-range A321neo jet, although some orders were converted from deals on other models. Airbus, which has not given a list price for the A321XLR, launched the new plane on Monday, aiming to carve out new routes for airlines with smaller planes and steal a march on Boeing’s plans for a potential all new jet for the middle of the market. The deals are a big vote of confidence in the European planemaker, a day after major customer BA owner IAG signed a letter of intent to buy 200 of Boeing Co’s 737 MAX jets, a model that has been grounded since March after two deadly crashes. Asked about the IAG deal, Franke, who struck the largest-ever plane deal by number of aircraft with Airbus in 2017, called the A321neo the most efficient single-aisle jet. Franke’s Indigo Partners signed a memorandum of understanding to buy 32 of A321XLR aircraft and to convert 18 existing A320 family jet orders to the larger model.<br/>