After the first two business days of the 2026 Farnborough International Airshow, aircraft manufacturers had announced agreements covering nearly 400 aircraft and helicopters when firm orders, commitments, options and purchase rights are all included. However, simply adding together every published figure does not provide a fully accurate picture, as some deals have not yet been converted into firm orders, while certain aircraft had already been listed in manufacturers’ order books under undisclosed customers.

Boeing currently leads in terms of the maximum potential number of commercial aircraft involved, largely thanks to a major order from leasing company SMBC Aviation Capital and several new deals for the 787 Dreamliner family. Airbus, however, responded with an almost identical SMBC order for the A320neo family, while Embraer strengthened its position in the regional aircraft segment through a series of smaller but strategically important agreements.

The largest individual customer of the show so far is undoubtedly SMBC Aviation Capital. The leasing company ordered 100 aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing on the same day. The firm Airbus order includes 65 A321neos and 35 A320neos, while Boeing secured a deal for 60 737-10s and 40 737-8s. For SMBC, the introduction of the 737-10 into its portfolio is particularly significant, while the order for 60 aircraft also represents the largest single 737-10 order placed by a leasing company to date.

SMBC’s dual order may be the clearest reflection of current market conditions. Leasing companies do not want to become fully dependent on a single manufacturer, while demand for new narrowbody aircraft is so strong that secured production slots have become almost as valuable as the choice of aircraft itself. At the same time, the structure of the deals demonstrates the continuing shift toward larger variants: the A321neo accounts for 65 percent of the Airbus order, while the 737-10 represents 60 percent of the Boeing agreement.

Boeing also established a significant advantage in the widebody segment. AerCap ordered 15 787-9s, with the option to switch to the larger 787-10, further increasing its Dreamliner portfolio to around 140 aircraft. Uganda Airlines, meanwhile, announced its first direct order with Boeing, covering four 737-8s and four 787-9s.

Riyadh Air announced that it would exercise options for another 28 Dreamliners, with 20 of the aircraft to be converted to the larger 787-10 variant. Of the total, 11 aircraft had already been recorded as an order from an undisclosed customer, while the remaining 17 still need to be formally finalised. Once the full transaction is completed, Riyadh Air is expected to hold firm orders for a total of 67 aircraft from the 787 family.

The Saudi carrier simultaneously strengthened its relationship with Airbus by confirming six additional A350-1000s. This raises the number of firmly ordered aircraft of the type to 31 within an earlier agreement covering up to 50 aircraft. Riyadh Air is therefore building a large widebody fleet around both the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350-1000, rather than tying its future growth to a single manufacturer.

Philippine Airlines adopted a similar approach. The Philippine flag carrier signed a memorandum of understanding for nine additional Airbus A350-1000s, while also committing to acquire up to 20 Boeing 787-10s. The Boeing agreement includes 15 aircraft expected to become firm orders once the contract is completed, together with purchase rights for another five.

The Philippine Airlines decision shows that the two widebody models are not necessarily being treated as direct alternatives. The larger and longer-range A350-1000 can be deployed on the most demanding intercontinental routes, while the 787-10, offering greater capacity but a shorter range, would be aimed at denser regional and medium-haul markets. For Airbus, the memorandum covering nine A350-1000s represents an important commercial success, although it cannot yet be counted as a firm order.

Boeing also announced in the cargo segment that MSC Air Cargo was the customer behind five 777-8F aircraft previously recorded under an undisclosed buyer. The deal is important for the 777-8F programme and adds another major European logistics operator to its customer base, although it does not represent five entirely new aircraft in Boeing’s overall order book.

Luxair, meanwhile, became one of the relatively rare airlines to order aircraft from both Boeing and Embraer on the same day. Two existing options for the 737-10 were converted into firm orders, together with two new options, while three purchase rights with Embraer were converted into firm orders for the E190-E2. The first E190-E2, configured with 100 seats, is expected to join the fleet at the end of 2028.

In a single day, Embraer secured firm deals covering 50 aircraft and conversions, together with a further 40 options and purchase rights. The largest agreement was reached with Abra Group, the owner of Avianca, GOL and Wamos Air. The deal includes 20 firm E195-E2 orders, ten options and 15 additional purchase rights, potentially covering up to 45 aircraft.

Azorra ordered 20 passenger-to-freighter E-Jet conversions, together with rights for a further ten aircraft, creating a potential deal for up to 30 aircraft. As the agreement concerns the conversion of existing aircraft, it cannot be directly compared with orders for newly built examples, but it represents a strong endorsement of Embraer’s E190F and E195F programmes.

Binter ordered another five E195-E2s and secured four additional purchase rights, while Japan’s Fuji Dream Airlines placed a firm order for two E175s. The Japanese carrier’s order had already been included in Embraer’s backlog, providing another example of why air show announcements should not automatically be interpreted as entirely new growth in a manufacturer’s total order book.

Outside the major SMBC deal, Airbus also revealed the identity of the customer behind four A320neo-family aircraft. The buyer is Tajikistan’s Shohin Airlines, which will take two A320neos and two A321neos. These four aircraft had also already been included in Airbus’ order book under an undisclosed customer, meaning their disclosure does not represent a new net order.

The European manufacturer also recorded ten firm helicopter orders. Saudi Arabia’s The Helicopter Company ordered another eight H145s, with deliveries planned for 2027 and 2028, while the United Kingdom’s National Police Air Service ordered two additional H135s. The NPAS fleet renewal programme has now grown to nine H135s, with the new aircraft scheduled to arrive at Airbus’ Oxford facility in 2028 for the installation of police mission equipment.

Measured by the maximum published values, Boeing’s announced deals currently cover up to 178 commercial aircraft, Airbus’ agreements include 119 commercial aircraft and ten helicopters, while Embraer’s business covers up to 90 aircraft and conversions. The overall headline total therefore reaches 397 aircraft and helicopters.

That figure, however, includes options, purchase rights, memoranda of understanding, deals that still need to be finalised, conversions of existing aircraft and orders that had already been recorded under undisclosed customers. When only clearly identified firm agreements for newly built commercial aircraft are compared, Boeing stands at around 141 aircraft, Airbus at 106 new orders together with six additional A350-1000s confirmed under an earlier framework agreement, and Embraer at 30 new passenger aircraft, or 50 when firmly contracted freighter conversions are included.

At the halfway point of Farnborough’s business programme, Boeing therefore holds the numerical lead and has achieved a particularly strong result in the widebody segment, while Airbus can be satisfied with SMBC’s major order and continued demand for the A350-1000. Embraer may not have secured a single three-digit order, but it has attracted a broad range of customers from Europe, Latin America and Asia, demonstrating that the E2 family is gradually establishing its place between traditional regional aircraft and larger narrowbody models.

The most important message from the show so far is not simply which manufacturer has sold the most aircraft. Major customers such as SMBC, Riyadh Air, Philippine Airlines and Luxair are placing orders with more than one manufacturer at the same time. With delivery slots stretching years into the future, production capacity remaining constrained and demand staying strong, access to available aircraft and fleet flexibility are becoming just as important as price, range or fuel consumption. Farnborough 2026 has therefore been less a story about a single clear winner and more a confirmation that the market can absorb almost everything Airbus, Boeing and Embraer are able to produce.