Europe’s Airbus landed its 10,000th commercial aircraft order in a deal with Virgin America.
“We hit our 5000th order in August of 2004 – after more than 30 years,” said Tom Enders, Airbus CEO, in a statement. “To achieve the 10,000th order just over six years later is a ringing endorsement of our product line.”
Virgin America became the first airline to place a firm commercial order for Airbus’ A320 new engine option aircraft in an agreement signed in late 2010. The order for 60 A320s includes 30 of the existing version of the single aisle jets and 30 with the new engine option, due out in 2016. The order is worth $5 billion at list prices though carriers rarely pay full list price.
Virgin’s order helped Airbus retain the crown for the most aircraft orders in 2010 over the Boeing Co., which led Airbus in orders through November.
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