Boeing lands $8.8 bil. order at Paris Air Show; Deal with world's biggest leasing company includes 52 of its heavily anticipated Dreamliners

June 20, 2007

Boeing Co. won an $8.8 billion order from International Lease Finance Corp., including the first sale of 787 Dreamliners at this year's Paris Air Show.

The agreement covers 63 planes, including 52 of the long- range, fuel-efficient Dreamliners, 10 of the single-aisle 737s and one 777-300ER, the companies said Tuesday at the show.

Chicago-based Boeing, the world's second- largest commercial-aircraft maker, is counting on the 787 to win back leadership of the $60 billion-a-year jetliner market from Airbus SAS. Following several design revisions, the competing Airbus plane, the A350 XWB, will enter service in 2013, five years behind the 787.

''This contract is near or at the top of the list of significant orders from the show so far,'' said Myles Walton, a Boston-based analyst with CIBC World Market who has a ''sector perform'' rating on Boeing stock. ''It indicates the level of support and demand for this product in the market.''

Shares of Boeing lost 48 cents to $96.92. The stock has gained 9.1 percent this year.

International Lease, which bought 22 Dreamliners in 2005, is the world's biggest aircraft leasing company and now has 74 of the 787s under contract, making it the biggest customer for the plane.

Steven Udvar-Hazy, the head of Los Angeles-based International Lease, has criticized past designs of the A350 and says Airbus hasn't provided enough details for it to buy the A350 XWB. Boeing now has 634 firm orders for Dreamliners compared with 105 orders for Airbus' competing plane.

''Airbus is getting closer and closer and they've learned a lot in the past two years,'' Udvar-Hazy said of the current A350 design. ''The basics of the plane like size are fixed, but it still needs some optimization.''

Boeing will begin delivery of the new 787s in June 2013 at a rate of about one a month beginning in June 2015, Udvar-Hazy said. He added that six customers have already signed for the new planes. The earlier order begins delivery in January 2010.

The transaction value is based on list prices, which don't include discounts traditionally given to customers making large purchases.

News from the air show Tuesday boosted General Electric Co. shares, which surged the most since January 2004 amid expectations that profit from selling commercial jet engines will increase.

GE stock reached the highest since March 2002, gaining $1.22, or 3.2 percent, to $39.29.