Airliner net orders came in at 81 in March as 106 new orders were offset by 25 cancellations, with another 43 swaps.

Australian low-cost carrier Virgin Blue Airlines placed a substantial order of 40 Boeing 737s. United Airlines ordered 25 Airbus A350s, Malaysia Airlines ordered 17 A330s while Hong Kong Airlines ordered six A330s. Many swaps took place in March including Saudi Arabia’s National Air Services who swapped 20 A319s for the A320 variant and EasyJet who also swapped 10 A319s for 10 A320s.

Airbus totalled 52 new orders in March while Boeing followed with 43. Bombardier received five orders, Embraer four and ATR two.

A total of 43 737s were ordered during the month while a single order for the A321 was placed. The month was strong for Airbus widebody aircraft as 26 A330s and 25 A350s new orders were made. In the regional market, two ATR42s, five CRJs, two ERJ-135s and two 170s orders were placed.