December 22, 2004: 6:41 AM EST
JAL: $4B Boeing Dreamliner order
Asia's biggest airline will buy 30 7E7 Dreamliners with an option to purchase 20 more.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan Airlines Corp. said Wednesday it will buy 30 Boeing 7E7 Dreamliners in a deal valued at about $4 billion, with an option for Asia's biggest airline to buy an additional 20 planes.
The contract will be signed next spring and the new planes will be introduced in April 2008 to replace JAL's 36 Boeing 767 jets and 22 Airbus A300-600s.
"We chose the 7E7 after carefully considering both it and Airbus' aircraft," a JAL spokesman said. "The 7E7 fit better for what we needed and it could be delivered when we hoped to get it."
The spokesman said JAL had not chosen an engine supplier for the order.
Merry X-mas
