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Seattle, July 7: Qantas Airways Ltd. said it has made a firm order for 20 more of Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner airplanes, worth more than $3 billion at list prices, raising its total firm orders to 65 of the new planes.
The order, announced by Qantas' chief executive at a Boeing event in Seattle on Friday, Washington, makes the Australian airline operator the second-largest buyer of Boeing's new plane behind aircraft lessor International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC).
Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon also said his airline had converted purchase rights to buy a further 20 787s into options, meaning Qantas could end up ordering 85 of the mid-sized, long range jetliners.
The airline still has purchase rights on a further 30 787s, although there is no guarantee those would be upgraded to options or subsequently converted into firm orders.
The additional aircraft will help Qantas and its low-cost Jetstar unit take advantage of growth in long-range, point-to-point flights to the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the Americas, Dixon said.
Qantas is set to take delivery of the first of its 787s in July next year. The first 787 is scheduled to roll out of Boeing's Everett, Washington plant on Sunday.
Dixon announced the order at a panel discussion organized by Boeing in the run-up to the unveiling of the 787, expected to be attended by 15,000 of Boeing's staff, customers and suppliers. The 787, made predominately of carbon-composite materials, is Boeing's first all-new commercial airliner in more than a decade.
Dixon did not rule out purchases of the 787's competition, Airbus' A350 XWB (extra wide body).
''We are looking at the A350-1000,'' Dixon told reporters after the panel discussion, referring to the largest of Airbus' proposed mid-sized A350 family. ''It is of great interest to us.'' Qantas is already a buyer of Airbus' larger A380 superjumbo.
The Qantas announcement brings Boeing's tally of firm 787 orders to 662, heavily outselling Airbus' A350. Airbus, a unit of European aerospace group EADS, has yet to clarify the number of firm orders it has on its books after a series of big orders at the Paris Air Show last month.
ILFC, a unit of insurer American International Group Inc., is the biggest 787 buyer, with 74 on order, according to Boeing's Web site.
Reuters