Airbus wins 60-plane order from Lessor Aviation Capital

Airbus SE said that aircraft lessor Aviation Capital Group has agreed to buy as many as 60 planes as the European manufacturer wraps up a bumper month.

The acquirer, wholly owned by Tokyo Century Corp., will purchase 40 A320neo family jets including five long-range A321XLRs and placed tentative orders for 20 smaller A220 planes, Airbus said in a statement Thursday. 

Airbus staged a coup on a newly resurgent Boeing Co. this month by winning two blockbuster orders for the A320 family of narrowbody jets over as many days. Qantas Airways Ltd. agreed to buy 40 Airbus jets with options to add 94 more over the next decade, while Air France-KLM will receive 100 A320 series planes.

Boeing has been pushing the rival 737 Max after the plane was cleared to fly again in the wake of two deadly crashes. The Chicago-based manufacturer has been using discounted sales to help compensate customers for revenue lost after regulators grounded the Max. But with the model selling strongly and delivery slots filling, Boeing executives signaled in October they were focusing on “pricing discipline.”