LONDON — The European parent company of Airbus parent signed an aircraft refueling tanker contract with the British Defense Ministry on Thursday worth up to $26.4 billion.
Under the deal confirmed by the British Ministry of Defense, a consortium led by European Aeronautic Defence &Space NV will supply the Royal Air Force with 14 new A330-200 aircraft.
EADS last month beat out its U.S.-rival Boeing for the $35 billion contract to build refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force.
Boeing said it dropped out of the bidding for the British contract early in the process.
Under the terms of the British deal, the aircraft will be owned by the consortium AirTanker, but will fly in RAF colors, providing air-to-air refueling and passenger air transport tasks.
The aircraft, which are expected to enter service around 2011, will replace the current Tristar and VC-10 aircraft.
“This deal represents great news for the Royal Air Force and great news for British industry and jobs,” said Ann Taylor, minister for defense equipment and support. “The A330s will provide a state-of-the-art air to air tanker and passenger aircraft supporting operations around the world and delivering British forces to operational theaters.”
The deal follows a rocky two years for EADS. It lost billions of euros because of delays to the superjumbo A380 and mid-size A350 jets. EADS is selling off sites and slashing thousands of jobs in a major overhaul aimed at recouping those losses.
“The Airbus A330 FSTA fleet will deliver unrivaled levels of capability, reliability, flexibility and economy to the UK armed forces,” said Phil Blundell, CEO of AirTanker, in a statement.
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