Qantas Places First Order With Airbus

Qantas Airways Ltd. placed its first order with Airbus Industrie that includes 12 of the proposed A3XX super jumbo jets. Australia’s largest airline said it will spend $4.6 billion on 31 new aircraft over 10 years. Sydney-based Qantas also said it will buy seven Airbus A330-200, six Airbus A330-300 jets and six Boeing Co. longer-range 747-400 jets. The orders will make Qantas a launch customer if the new A3XX jets goes into production, and marks a setback for Airbus’ bigger rival, Boeing, which had promoted its planned stretch version of the 747 jet and its 777 jetliners. Airbus also has won a $8.6-billion order for as many as 25 A3XXs from Singapore Airlines Ltd. Airbus has made big inroads in winning orders from big all-Boeing customers, including British Airways, which bought its first Airbus jets in 1998. Qantas, which is 25% owned by British Airways, is the only big Asia Pacific carrier that has not purchased Boeing’s 777 jets. Airbus is now just six orders short of the 50 it says it needs before it can proceed with development of the A3XX, which with some 555 seats will become the biggest commercial jet in operation.