British Airways orders 787, A380

British Airways announced last Thursday that it would order 12 Airbus A380s and 24 Boeing 787s, with options for 7 more A380s and 18 more 787s. The planes will be delivered between 2010 and 2014. "This is an exciting day for British Airways with our largest fleet order since 1998," said Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive. "It's great news for our business, our customers and the environment." Walsh also pointed out that the two new types are environmentally friendly and also produce a quarter of the noise of a Boeing 747-400.

BA has said that they will use the A380 to "provide more capacity for the airline's key high-density markets and [to] maximise use of scarce Heathrow slots", while the 787 will "be used to start new routes and increase frequencies in existing markets". The airline also announced that it is looking to replace the 747-400 and is looking at the 787-10, 777-300ER and A350XWB models as potential replacements.

Boeing rolls out the 787

photo courtesy jnsabino

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was unveiled yesterday at Boeing's Everett, Washington facility. It was certainly a PR coup for the company - many news outlets were on hand to cover the event, and employees and the public were allowed to go right up to the plane and touch it!

Boeing also announced 35 new orders for the 787 just a few hours before roll out, meaning that there are now 677 orders from 47 customers for the plane, which is Boeing's first all-new aircraft since the 777 was first built in 1995.

It looked like a pretty interesting show, and I did watch the webcast online via Boeing's website (although Flightblogger was able to be there in person and did take some pictures). What I found especially interesting was the note that Airbus CEO Louis Gallois sent to Boeing CEO James McNerney:

"On behalf of the global Airbus team, I would like to offer you and your Boeing colleagues our congratulations on the rollout of your first 787 aircraft. Today is a great day in aviation history. For, whenever such a milestone is reached in our industry, it always is a reflection of hard work by dedicated people inspired by the wonder of flight. Even if tomorrow Airbus will get back to the business of competing vigorously, today is Boeing's day - a day to celebrate the 787."

Looks like Boeing will have to do the same when Airbus releases the A350 in a few years.

ILFC orders 63 Boeings

During the second day of the Paris Air Show, the International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) announced an order for 63 Boeing aircraft, worth about $8.8 billion at list prices. ILFC is ordering 50 more 787s, with deliveries starting in 2010 and ending in 2017. In addition, ILFC ordered ten 737s and announced that it was exercising options to order 787-8s and one 777-300ER.

This announcement makes ILFC the largest orderer of the 787 to date, with 74 airplanes ordered. It orders airplanes and then leases them out to airlines.

Aeroflot orders Boeing 787

Russian carrier Aeroflot announced today that it will be ordering 22 Boeing 787 aircraft - an order valued at about 3 billion dollars. Aeroflot is the second Russian airline to order the 787 - S7 was first. The airplanes, which are scheduled to be delivered between 2014 and 2016, will complement the 22 Airbus A350 aircraft that Aeroflot bought in March. There have been reports that Aeroflot preferred the 787 over the A350 but ended up getting both because state-owned Vneshtorgbank bought 5% of Airbus parent EADS last year.

Boeing emphasized the benefits to Russia that the deal would provide: key components for the 787 were designed at Boeing's Moscow office, where the company employs about 300 engineers, and that Russian titanium would be used in the building of the airplane. Boeing also agreed to help Russian manufacturer Sukhoi in the latter's production of the Sukhoi Superjet-100 (SSJ), also called the Russian Regional Jet (RRJ).

S7 Orders Boeing 787

The second largest airline in Russia, S7 (also known as Sibir), yesterday announced that it was ordering 15 Boeing 787s, with options for 10 more. This is big news, since it is (to the best of my knowledge) the first purchase by a Russian airline of brand-new Boeings. It's also the first purchase by a Russian carrier of the 787 - an airplane that state-run Aeroflot has been looking at for quite some time. The 787s, which are due for delivery starting in 2014, supplement an order S7 placed last month for 10 Boeing 737-800s, with options for 10 more.

Of course, this places more pressure on state-run Aeroflot to make a decision regarding the type; it has been trying to decided between the 787 and the A350 for quite some time.

Aeroflot lets 787 slots expire, retires Il-86

Russian flag carrier Aeroflot lost twenty-two production slots last week for the Boeing 787 aircraft because the government wouldn't approve its order. "The original conditions on the contract have expired... We will now be looking for other alternatives. We remain in contact with Boeing," said Aeroflot Deputy CEO Lev Koshlyakov.

Originally Aeroflot remained undecided between the A350 and the 787 and seemed like it would split its order both ways. Alexander Lebedev, owner of 30% of Aeroflot, cut a deal with Boeing to give it the production slots basically as a time extension so that Aeroflot's board could confirm the order, which it has yet to do.

Aeroflot also announced last month that it plans to retire the Ilyushin Il-86 from service later this month. Aeroflot's Deputy Director General Igor Desyatnichenko said that the planes will be retired November 15, and that they were "too costly to keep them through the winter and fly just two or three months in the summer". He also said that the planes, which aren't very fuel efficient, didn't meet European environmental and noise regulations.

The Il-86 was introduced in 1980 and was the first Russian wide-bodied airliner. Aeroflot and other airlines have used (and continue to use) the aircraft on tourist flights to southern resort towns in the Caucasus during the summer months.