Airbus, Indonesian airline sign $24B contract; plane maker’s largest
by The Associated Press
Lion Air is buying 169 A320s and 65 A321 jets, with first planes set to be delivered in 2014
PARIS—Indonesian airline Lion Air plans to buy 234 short- to medium-range aircraft from Airbus for $24-billion in what is being billed as the biggest civilian deal in the history of the aircraft manufacturer.
The contract was announced at the French presidential palace, a sign of the deal’s importance to the government.
Airbus said it would secure 5,000 jobs at a time when French unemployment hovers around the 10 per cent mark.
Lion Air is buying 169 A320s and 65 A321 jets.
The first planes will be delivered in 2014.
Airbus, the archrival of U.S.-based Boeing Co., is the civilian aircraft business of the European aerospace and defence company EADS.
