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Airbus sells twelve passenger jets to Libya
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Airbus has announced the sale of 12 passenger jets to Libya's Afriqiyah Airways, securing one of the first plane deals with the North African nation since international sanctions were lifted. The Tripoli-based Afriqiyah Airways signed nonbinding commitments to buy nine jets from the single-aisle A320 family and three larger A330 wide-body airliners in a deal worth about $1.7-billion (U.S.) at list price.
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”We are proud of this sign of confidence, and look forward to creating a long-term win-win co-operation,” Airbus Chief Executive Christian Streiff said on the second day of the Farnborough International Air Show.
But the Boeing Co. appears to be extending the lead it took over its rival in the first half of the year, when Airbus recorded only 117 gross orders — less than a quarter of its U.S. rival's total. Airbus had previously beaten Boeing's orders for a fifth straight year in 2005 but looks increasingly likely to fall behind this year.
The Airbus order from Afriqiyah, together with the sale of an additional A330 plane to Caribbean operator Air Caraibes announced recently, leaves the European jet maker with 23 jet orders so far from the show, worth $2.6-billion. And in a separate deal with the Libyan authorities, Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. also agreed to build a pilot training and maintenance centre in Tripoli.
Afriqiyah Chief Executive, Abdallah Sabri Shadi, said that the deal was the first significant Libyan plane order in 30 years, and predicted more Libyan business for both Airbus and rival Boeing, which last year won an order for three Boeing 737s from another Libyan carrier, Buraq Air. Boeing was also considered for the Afriqiyah deal, Sabri Shadi said. ”There were negotiations that took a couple of months, but in the end, we selected the right products.”
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