PARIS, France: Even though industrial problems are hindering the delivery of jets sold before the pandemic, Airbus and Boeing are receiving billions of dollars of new orders, stretching beyond 2030.

From Air India to Ireland's Ryanair and a new national airline in Saudi Arabia, a handful of carriers have placed orders for 700 jet aircraft.

Turkish Airlines' surprise announcement last week that it plans to order 600 jets in June spells what would be the fourth mega-deal in only a few months - upstaging Air India's record order of 470 Airbus and Boeing jetliners.

Regarding Turkish Airlines, Rob Morris, head of global consultancy at UK-based Ascend by Cirium, said, "They are aspiring to build a mega-connector airline from everywhere in Europe to everywhere in Asia and Africa," as quoted by Reuters.

U.S. industry analyst Richard Aboulafia highlighted the timing of the order - days before Turkey's May 14 elections- and noted the weight simultaneously being given to strategic aerospace projects including a fighter, attack helicopter and drones.

"And now this plan to make Turkey an airline centre of the world, too. The timing looks almost too coincidental," Aboulafia, managing director of Aerodynamic Advisory, said, as reported by Reuters.

Istanbul, where President Tayyip Erdogan opened a new $12 billion airport in 2018, is seen by many as an important location to challenge major hubs in Dubai and Doha.

Chairman Ahmet Bolat said Turkish Airlines would order 200 long-haul jets and 400 smaller narrow-body aircraft needed to feed such traffic. The airline's fleet is roughly split between Airbus and Boeing.

"Airlines are getting worried about future new aircraft availability and so are perhaps getting spooked into ordering early," Morris said.

The risk, a senior industry source warned, is that multiple airlines are buying planes to try to serve the same travel demand. The resulting duplication could trim profits more broadly.

"It's a civil arms race. Everyone is buying the same planes for the same people - who knows who is going to win? Probably no-one," the source said.

Locking in jet orders so far ahead of time also involves a gamble on inflation, with escalation clauses potentially adding billions to the value of a large order by the time planes are delivered beginning at the end of this decade.

The boom also comes at a time when airlines face growing pressure to cut emissions.

Critics say ordering planes so far ahead risks diverting attention from a new generation of single-aisle jets, which are expected to become available from the mid- to late 2030s.