DUBLIN, Ireland – Aer Lingus will buy 12 Airbus jets, including the new A350 XWB, to modernize its long-haul fleet and expand service to the United States, the Irish airline said Wednesday.
The deal provided a welcome boost for struggling Airbus ahead of the Paris Air Show later this month. It also demonstrated Aer Lingus’ confidence of defeating a takeover bid by Dublin-based rival Ryanair, which had pledged to ax the airline’s trans-Atlantic services.
Aer Lingus Group PLC said it will receive six new A330-300E aircraft from 2009 to 2011, then six A350 XWB aircraft from 2014 to 2016. The airline – which already operates an all-Airbus fleet of 30 short-haul A320s and eight A330s – also negotiated options to buy six more A350s for delivery by 2018.
The deal has a catalog value of $2.4 billion (1.78 billion euros), but Aer Lingus said it negotiated substantial discounts.
Chief Executive Dermot Mannion said the airline negotiated with the Boeing Co., Airbus’ U.S. rival, for the possible purchase of its new 787 long-haul jet. But he said Airbus offered “an exceptional price” and that he believed Airbus was “better on fuel and better on range” than the Boeing 787.
Directors of Aer Lingus, a previously state-controlled airline that was floated on the British and Irish stock exchanges in September, made the purchase of new long-haul aircraft its top priority for growth.
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