Boeing Wins Big Order From Qantas for 787s

Boeing Co. won an order valued at $6.1 billion for 45 of its 787 jets from Qantas Airways Ltd. as Australia’s biggest airline adds profitable international routes.

Including options to buy 20 additional 787 Dreamliners and purchase rights to 50 more, the order is worth as much as $18 billion and is the biggest ever for Qantas. It would be the largest 787 purchase to date, Chicago-based Boeing said. Deliveries will start in 2008, Qantas said Wednesday.

The purchase of the fuel-efficient aircraft puts Boeing on course to win more orders than Toulouse, France-based Airbus for the first time in five years. Qantas’ order, made after a five-month competition between Airbus and Boeing, will allow it to cut fuel costs as crude oil prices rise and demand for budget air travel increases in Asia.

Sydney-based Qantas said in August that it was choosing between Boeing’s 787 and Airbus’ A350 model for domestic flights and short international routes.

Using new engine technology and lighter, carbon-fiber composite construction, the 787 is designed to burn 20% less fuel than other aircraft of the same size. The A350 enters service in 2010, two years after the 787.

“This will give us the latest aircraft” and a model that’s “very fuel efficient in an era of high fuel costs,” said Qantas Chief Executive Geoff Dixon.

Boeing and Airbus have doubled their orders this year from 2004, helped by the growing number of air travelers in Asia.

Airbus had orders for 687 planes as of Nov. 30, lagging behind Boeing’s record 806 firm orders as of Dec. 6, including 185 Dreamliners, according to the jet makers. About 30% of Boeing’s orders are by airlines based in the Asia-Pacific region.

Qantas said it chose the 787 over the Airbus A350 because the Boeing model can fly farther and faster with a full payload and burn less fuel. The 787 can carry as many as 330 passengers.

Boeing shares rose 86 cents to a record $71.45.