Singapore Airlines is a key player in the high-stakes contest between US giant Boeing and its European rival Airbus.
The carrier, famous for its efficient flight operations and attentive stewardesses in trademark uniforms, is reputed to be a tough buyer whose choices of aircraft are closely followed by competitors.
SIA on Wednesday announced an order for 20 Boeing 787 aircraft -- also known as Dreamliners -- worth US$4.5 billion, to be delivered between early 2011 and mid-2013. It has an option on 20 more of the planes.
PHOTO: AP
"SIA's order for the Dreamliners is a slap in the face for Airbus," said Shukor Yusof, an analyst with credit rating agency Standard and Poors in Singapore.
"SIA has a huge say in how a new aircraft impacts a market, how it is sold and how it is going to be perceived by the market," he said.
The 787 competes with Airbus A350, whose development has been delayed by design changes, in the mid-size airliner market.
In the jumbo category, the serious production problems which have hampered the delivery of the Airbus A380 to SIA will also be watched by the industry.
Yusof noted that because SIA is the launch customer for the A380 worldwide "any difficulties and any problems will be closely watched by other airlines."
SIA said it will pay for the Boeing 787s from its cash flow, underscoring its financial strength as a customer to Airbus or Boeing.
Analysts said soaring fuel prices prompted SIA to look at new ways to save costs, including the purchase of a fleet of fuel-efficient aircraft like the 787-9, the latest variant of the Dreamliner series.
"They don't buy planes for political reason but for performance reasons," said Jim Eckes, a managing director at airline consultancy Indoswiss Aviation in Hong Kong.
The company said on Wednesday that the latest Airbus A380 delay would not affect its plans to be the first airline to fly the double-decker jet, and it still expects to take delivery of the plane by the end of this year.
Air China, meanwhile, said yesterday that it had agreed to buy 24 Airbus A320 aircraft for US$1.74 billion for delivery between next year and 2010.
The airline said the acquisition is part of the order for 150 mid-range planes the Chinese government signed in Paris last year in a deal aimed to upgrade cooperation between Airbus and China's civil aviation sector.
Airbus granted Air China significant price concessions in the form of credit memoranda, the airline said in a statement posted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Web site.
Airbus is seeking to topple Boeing's dominance of the Chinese civil aviation sector and aiming for a 50 percent market share. It currently has only around a third compared to Boeing's 60 percent.
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