Posted on 04/27/2005 3:34:57 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
BANGALORE, India, April 26 - Air India, India's flagship carrier, said Tuesday that it would order 50 aircraft from the Boeing Company in a deal worth $6.9 billion, a sale that had also been keenly pursued by its rival, Airbus Industrie.
In a statement, the government-owned Air India said its order included 27 of Boeing's 787 Dreamliners, its fuel-efficient model in development, with seating for 200 to 300 passengers. The 787 competes with Airbus's A350, and is expected to come into service in 2008.
Air India also ordered 15 of the 737 medium-range aircraft and 8 of the 777 long-haul jetliners. The announcement Tuesday came just ahead of the test flight of Airbus's superjumbo 555-seat A380 on Wednesday; Boeing has no competitor for that aircraft.
Dinesh Keskar, Boeing's senior vice president for sales, confirmed the order in a phone interview. He said the order was an indication that "Boeing has the right products and the right mix." Mr. Keskar, who is based in Seattle, spoke from Mumbai, where Air India has its headquarters. Boeing is based in Chicago.
While both Boeing and Airbus outdid each other with financial and technical offers to clinch the Air India deal, intense lobbying between governments may have finally swung the deal to Boeing.
President Bush spoke recently to India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, about the purchase, and the American transportation secretary, Norman Y. Mineta, last week lobbied Aviation Minister Praful Patel.
Representatives of the European Union, including the French transportation minister, Gilles de Robien, pushed for Airbus. Airbus is based in Toulouse, France, and is controlled by the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, or EADS, and BAE Systems, which has a 20 percent stake.
Air India's much-delayed decision in favor of Boeing comes at a time when rivals like Jet Airways and Air Sahara have received licenses to fly international routes from India. Air India has not expanded its fleet in the last decade and a half.
The airline has already announced that it will increase the frequency of its flights to the United States and add new destinations, including San Francisco and Houston, in the coming months. It plans an initial stock offering early next year.
Order's for the 747 have virtually dried up over the past few years.
It's the 787 and 777 that have put Boeing back on top.
The Dreamliner's range, internal goodies, passenger friendlieness, and airport readieness, appear to be just the thing that these State owned airlines and airports appear to be looking for.
Airbus designed A380 in the nineties during an era of relatively cheap fuel. Dreamliner is being ORDERED during an era when China's appetite for petrol is driving up prices all along the spectrum of fuels, including jet fuel mixtures.
I suspect Airbus has gambled poorly, and we are seeing the results.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
I KNOW it's the photo that ran with the article. (duh) I didn't expect you to speak for the NYT.
Exactly.
Yeah, great news. Their planes will fly here, drop off their college grads, and fly away.
Meanwhile our college grads sit at home playing xbox games and quoting Satre.
I think thats a pic from Bombay Int Arport.
Great fun sitting on the Bom Airport tarmac watching the heavys T/O every 3-4 min.
~sigh
LOL.
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