Airbus, Boeing Taking Names at Paris Air Show

Early this morning, Airbus, the aircraft-making division of European Aeronautics Defence and Space Co. (EADS), signed a deal to supply European airlines easyJet with 135 of the company's A320 and A320neo single-aisle planes for $11.5 billion. The big order must have stung Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), which has revealed its own big order for this morning.

Five airlines have signed on to take 102 "stretch" models of the company's 787 Dreamliner, dubbed the 787-10. The buyers include Air Lease Corp. (NYSE: AL), which ordered 30 of the new planes; GE Capital Aviation Services, a division of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) has ordered 10; International Airlines Group/British Airways ordered 12; Singapore Airlines will take 30; and United Continental Holdings Corp. (NYSE: UAL) has ordered 30.

No list price is given for the new plane, but the 787-9 lists for around $240 million. The new 787-10 should be priced a bit higher than the 787-9, so let's say $250 million. The orders are then worth about $25.5 billion to Boeing.

All good for Boeing then? Let's see, according to Boeing, the plane's first test flight is scheduled for 2017, and the first commercial delivery is targeted for 2018. That is a long ways off, and given Boeing's delays in getting out the first 787 Dreamliners and the subsequent battery problems, we are a little skeptical about that schedule.

Boeing's share price is up about 0.3% in premarket trading this morning, at $103.30 in a 52-week range of $69.03 to $103.52. The high was posted yesterday.

Filed under: Aerospace & Defense Tagged: AL, BA, GE, UAL