Etihad to buy two more Airbus for $417million

ZAWYA DOW JONES

DOHA

ABU Dhabi-based airline Etihad Airways ordered two Airbus A330- 200 aircraft as part of an effort to renew its fleet, Airbus said on Tuesday.

The United Arab Emirate airline chose to equip the new jets with Trent 700 engines manufactured by Rolls Royce, Airbus said.

Taking into account Airbus list price, the new Etihad order is worth $417 million, though the aircraft manufacturer regularly grants discount for customers.

Etihad also upgraded a previous order for seven A320 jets for seven A321, a larger version of the plane, Airbus said. The airline will receive the first aircraft in November 2013.

Meanwhile, Etihad, which owns 10 percent of Virgin Australia, on Tuesday welcomed the Australian carrier’s decision to buy a majority stake in Tiger Airways and its agreement to acquire Skywest Airlines.

Etihad Chief Executive Officer James Hogan said in an emailed statement that investments in Tiger and Skywest would help consolidate Virgin’s “competitive position” in the Australian and Asia- Pacific market.

Abu Dhabi-owned Etihad and Virgin have a commercial partnership that includes code-sharing on flights, joint marketing initiatives and coordinated frequent flier programs.

In one of three separate deals announced earlier on Tuesday, Singapore Airlines bought 10 percent of Virgin Australia.

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