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 Also Thursday, Brazil's GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. said it had exercised firm orders for 34 Boeing 737-800 NGs, completing the purchase option for 121 aircraft negotiated in October 2006, and has signed a new contract for the acquisition of 40 additional aircraft for delivery in 2012-2014.
British Airways PLC in September divided its largest aircraft order in nine years between Boeing Co. and Airbus.
The British Airways deal is worth $4.4 billion at list prices, though carriers usually can negotiate deep discounts on sizable orders.
Boeing has been more successful at attracting customers for its 787 Dreamliner as Airbus experienced problems with both its double-decker flagship A380 and its mid-range A350, its rival to the 787.
Wiring and other technical problems delayed delivery of the A380 by two years.
GOL, the parent company of Brazil's low-cost airlines GOL Transportes Aereos S.A. and VRG Linhas Aereas S.A., is also updating its fleet through purchases of Boeing aircraft.
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 "This new contract will further reduce GOL's costs and enable us to continue to modernize our fleet with new aircraft," said Fernando Rockert de Magalhaes, GOL's technical vice president. The agreement increases the number of aircraft on order from 121 to 161.
The British Airways deal puts the number of 787s ordered worldwide at 790, Boeing said.
"This order is a vote of confidence from one of the world's leading global network carriers in the 787's unprecedented performance," said Marlin Dailey, vice president of Sales for Europe, Russia and Central Asia, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "No other airplane in its category offers British Airways the superior efficiency, economics and passenger comfort while also fitting so easily into its medium- and long-haul twin-aisle fleet."
[Associated Press]
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