Airbus Picks Up $2.5 Billion Orders
|
|
Farnborough, September 3 -- Airbus Industrie Managing Director Jean Pierson
today announced new orders for 32 new Airbus aircraft worth a total of
$2.5 billion. The new orders follow on the heels of Boeings $6.3 billion
order bonanza announced at the show yesterday.
The new orders are for:
Asiana Airlines of South Korea is a new customer for Airbus. The contract for 18 of the new generation single aisle A321s schedules deliveries to begin in the second quarter of 1998, with the entire fleet scheduled for service by 2005. The A321s will operate on Asiana's route network in South Korea as well as on certan regional services. The Cathay Pacific Airlines order for three long range A340-300s, brings the total number of firm orders for the four-engine aircraft to nine. Deliveries will begin in the second and third quarters of 1998, with the planes entering service on non-stop routes between Hong Kong and destinations in Europe and North America, plus on selected Asian routes. Cathay Pacific is the first airline in the world to operate a mixed fleet of A330s and A340s. Federal Express added 11 additional A300-600F freighters, for delivery between 1998 and 2000. FedEx currently operates 17 A300-600Fs and 27 A310s. The new aircraft will be used primarily on U.S. domestic routes. |
