The 787 now has 56 hard-contract orders + 130 customer-announced orders for a total of 186: still a bit short of the 200 Boeing hoped to get by the end of 2004, but not bad at all...China’s airlines buy into Boeing’s Dreamliner
By Kevin Done in London
Published: January 28 2005 20:21 | Last updated: January 28 2005 20:21
Boeing on Friday won its biggest aircraft order from China with six Chinese airlines signing a preliminary agreement to purchase 60 787 Dreamliners in a deal valued at $7.2bn at list prices before heavy discounts.
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The 787, the first all-new aircraft launched by Boeing for 14 years, is key to the US group's efforts to restore its fortunes and halt its loss of market share to Airbus, its European rival.
In parallel Airbus said on Friday that it had reached a general terms agreement with China for the purchase by China Southern Airlines of five A380 superjumbos worth $1.4bn at list prices before discounts. China Southern will be the first Chinese airline to order the 555-passenger A380, the world's largest passenger jet.
The two aicraft makers are locked in fierce competition in China, which is forecast to show the strongest air traffic growth of any large market during the next two decades.
Boeing forecasts that China will become the world's second-largest commercial aviation market after the US within 20 years and will need around 2,300 new aircraft during the next two decades with the overall air traffic market expected to grow at 7.3 per cent a year.
Boeing, which on Friday officially renamed its previously code-named 7E7 as the 787, said that the aircraft would be delivered to six Chinese carriers, Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan Airlines, Shanghai Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.
The 787 is due to enter service first in 2008 with Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA), but Boeing said yesterday that all six Chinese airlines should also have taken delivery of their first 787s in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Airbus is aiming to meet a similar deadline with China Southern for the delivery of the first A380, which enters service in mid-2006 with Singapore Airlines.
Including the six Chinese carriers Boeing has 14 announced airline customers for a total of 186 787s, although only 56 are as yet firm orders, with non-refundable deposits, from three airlines including the launch order for 50 aircaft from ANA.
Randy Baseler, Boeing marketing vice-president for commercial aircraft, said on Friday that the group had signed total preliminary commitments or orders from airlines for 250 7E7s, of which 64 were from as yet unannounced customers.
Airbus began marketing last month its A350 as a rival to the 787 sparking a global battle for new orders for the competing long-range, mid-market aircraft with between 200 and 300 seats.
The A350, which is expected to cost around €4bn to develop, will be a derivative of Airbus's existing twin-engined A330. It is expected to enter service in the first half of 2010, two years after the Boeing 787.
The official industrial launch for the A350 is yet to be given by Airbus shareholders but is expected by the middle of this year, depending on the volume of launch orders it attracts.
Air Europa, the Spanish carrier owned by the Globalia travel group, became the first airline to signal its interest in the A350 with a preliminary agreement last month to buy 10 with options for an additional two aircraft.
PS: I'm glad Boeing decided to stick with their usual naming convention for this aircraft, though I must admit 7E7 had a nice ring to it...
