ANA firms up orders for another five 787 Dreamliners
02 Jul 2009
Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) has converted five options for Boeing 787 Dreamliners into firm orders, boosting its order book for the aircraft to 55 from 50. In the process it becomes the largest airline customer for the futuristic, but much delayed, aircraft.
Also the aircraft's launch customer, the carrier said it expects delivery of its Dreamliners to begin "in or after February 2010."
ANA also released a statement yesterday detailing the company's plan to issue 575 million new shares, worth an estimated ¥182.62 billion ($1.9 billion), which will be used largely to finance new aircraft.
Boeing has not confirmed the order change in either a statement or on its Orders and Deliveries website.
ANA becomes the biggest customer for the aircraft with Australian flag carrier Qantas reducing its firm order for the 787s to 50 from 65 last week.
This brought the total number of cancellations for the 787 Dreamliner this year to 72.
