More Airbus Orders; RAM Selects 787

Philippine flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) signed an agreement with Airbus to buy and lease 18 A320 aircraft - nine brand-new and options for five more at an estimated cost of 840 million US. PAL will also lease two brand-new A320s and two A319s from GECAS, and deliveries will begin the second half of 2006 to 2008. PAL has needed to update its aging fleet for a long time, so this order is good for them. Useless trivia fact: PAL became the first airline to order Airbus - back in 1978. This is important for Airbus, because PAL's short-haul fleet has been pretty much Boeing.

Also Airbus has announced an order from Germanwings, a German low-cost carrier:

Germanwings, the rapidly-expanding Cologne-based low-cost carrier (LCC), has signed a contract for 18 Airbus A319s. The order follows an earlier announcement of the airline’s decision to further expand its fleet of Airbus single-aisle aircraft. The new aircraft are the first that Germanwings has acquired directly from Airbus, while the airline already operates a fleet of 19 A319s and three A320s.

The new A319s for Germanwings will feature a comfortable single-class cabin layout for a maximum of 156 passengers. The aircraft will be powered by V2500 engines from International Aero Engines. Germanwings will fly the aircraft from its bases in Berlin, Stuttgart and Hamburg as well as from the main hub in Cologne to more than 40 destinations all over Europe.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Boeing has announced that Royal Air Maroc (RAM) ordered four 787 Dreamliners with an option for one more. RAM will use them on North American, Middle Eastern, and African routes. RAM is, by the way, a loyal Boeing customer.