Leasing company drops order for 6 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, opts for Airbus

Leasing company drops order for 6 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, opts for Airbus

2011-11-15 01:01:52 GMT+7 (ICT)

DUBAI (BNO NEWS) -- A Kuwait-based leasing company has dropped an order for six Boeing 787 Dreamliners and instead expanded its previous order for dozens of Airbus A320s, the companies confirmed. Oman Air has agreed to take the Dreamliners.

Aviation Lease and Finance Company (ALAFCO) previously signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 30 Airbus A320neo aircraft at the Paris airshow in June. Instead, during the Dubai Airshow on Monday, the leasing company finalized a purchase order for 50 A320neo aircraft and took options for 30 more to be finalized by the end of the year.

"The A320neo is the market's favorite single-aisle aircraft family," said ALAFCO chairman Ahmed Al Zabin. "The significant fuel burn savings it offers, combined with the operational reliability and cost effectiveness of the A320 Family, make it an absolute 'must have' in our portfolio to meet the demand and the requirements of our customers."

The order is bad news for Boeing, which secured orders with ALAFCO in 2007 for 22 of its much-hyped 787 Dreamliners in deals then valued at $3.88 billion. ALAFCO has now decided to drop six of the Dreamliners and transfer the orders to Oman Air, the national airline of the Arab state.

With the latest decision, only seven Dreamliners remain on ALAFCO's original orders. The leasing company previously decided in November 2010 to transfer eight Dreamliners to Saudi Arabian Airlines. It is unknown if ALAFCO is seeking more airlines to take over its orders for the Dreamliner.

Currently, ALAFCO has agreements to purchase 57 new aircraft from Airbus and Boeing that will be delivered from 2014 until 2021.

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