Christmas leftovers
Published 9:00 pm Monday, December 26, 2005
There still could be a couple of presents under the tree for Boeing this year, according to international media reports.
Of course we all know that the Singapore deal is still hanging out there. Last week The Wall Street Journal suggested an order is imminent, but Reuters http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=112822 casts some doubt that it’ll get done this week
Key Quote: “‘We are still evaluating proposals from both manufacturers and we are not leaning one way or the other at this stage of the process,’ Stephen Forshaw, the airline’s vice-president of public affairs, said. Neither has there been any decision on the number of aircraft, he said. ‘The decision isn’t imminent,’ Forshaw added on Tuesday.”
And I’m hearing that the Air India deal — first announced in April — is about to be signed. The Telegraph in Calcutta seems to confirm that with this story, which also suggests that the closing might not come till after the first of the year. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1051225/asp/business/story_5642865.asp
Key Quote: “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will approve the purchase plan next week and Air-India will start receiving deliveries of planes from November 2006, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said today.”
The Deccan Herald elaborates on the dealhttp://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/dec252005/index20543520051224.asp, reporting that Boeing has agreed to help set up an MRO facility in India as part of it. In return …
Key Quote: “Official sources said AI has converted its options to buy 16 aircraft into a firm order, taking the total number of firm orders to 50. It is also acquiring 18 more aircraft for its subsidiary Air-India Express.”
And just for kicks, here’s the Bloomberg News report, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aS4r95Ry4iqY&refer=asia which conveniently converts crore rupees into U.S. dollars (so that I don’t have to).
Key Quote: “The country’s cabinet had approved the plan to purchase the aircraft on Dec. 15, subject to a final round of price negotiations. State-run Air India aims to place about $8 billion of orders with the world’s second-biggest planemaker.”
But here’s one that had fallen off my radar screen — Aeroflot is leaning toward a healthy 787 order, according to reports out of Russia by AFX http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2005/12/27/afx2415688.html and Reuters http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-12-27T135455Z_01_MCC723588_RTRUKOC_0_US-AIRLINES-AEROFLOT-BOEING.xml
Key Quote, from the Reuters story: “Aeroflot Deputy General Director Lev Koshlyakov told Reuters that the company had chosen between Boeing and Airbus. ‘If everything goes well, the contract will be signed before the end of March,’ he said, but declined to elaborate.”
