Boeing added another 26 orders for the 787 Dreamliner to its bulging 2005 order book yesterday with leasing firm deals worth a combined $3.4 billion.
ILFC (International Lease Finance Corporation) ordered 20 787 with four options in a deal worth $2.7 billion at list prices. And LCAL (Low-Cost Aircraft Leasing) announced an order for six 787-8s valued at $780 million at list prices.
According to ILFC president and chief operating officer John Plueger his firm’s first purchase of the 787 is just the beginning.
“We are supremely confident that this is a revolutionary airplane and one that is driving the industry at the moment,” he said yesterday. “I am sure this is going to be just the first of many orders for the 787 in the future. We have had many inquiries about this plane from our customers”
Deliveries will begin in 2010 and run through to 2011.
Plueger said that to date none of the aircraft had been placed with ILFC customers but that three campaigns were currently running. The mix of -8 and -9 variants of the aircraft will be agreed with Boeing at a later date.
LCAL was in fact the first leasing company to commit to the 787, though was not identified as the customer until yesterday at the show. The firm, which will take first deliveries in 2009, will base its leasing business entirely around the 787.
“Boeing has worked very hard to make this a ‘banker-friendly’ airplane,” said LCAL chief executive officer Clive Joy. “We aim to take these advantages and translate them into a leasing-friendly product, which combined with the new technology will deliver the maximum benefit to airlines.”
• Boeing is reported to have secured a 70-aircraft order from China, timed to coincide with the visit of President Bush. The $4 billion order is for Boeing 737 aircraft.
Source: Flight Daily News
