Boeing, Virgin Atlantic confirm 787 orders, biofuels partnership

Virgin Atlantic has ordered 15 Dreamliners from Boeing and has forged a partnership with the planemaker to develop a biofuels program for commercial jets.

The request, worth $2.8 billion at list prices, is the largest 787 order from a European carrier. The order was previously listed on Boeing’s Web site and attributed to an unidentified customer.

Boeing and Virgin Fuels, together with GE Aviation, have scheduled a biofuels demonstration with a Virgin Atlantic 747-400 for 2008. To read my story on Boeing’s previous biofuels efforts, http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/10/09/100bus_fuel001.cfm.

For more on the Virgin Atlantic-Boeing agreement, check out tomorrow’s Herald.