Air France-KLM has decided to split a landmark order for 100 long-haul carriers between Europe's Airbus and US rival Boeing, a press report said.

"/> Air France-KLM has decided to split a landmark order for 100 long-haul carriers between Europe's Airbus and US rival Boeing, a press report said.

" />

Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

AIRLINE

Air France splits order between Airbus, Boeing

Air France-KLM has decided to split a landmark order for 100 long-haul carriers between Europe's Airbus and US rival Boeing, a press report said.

Published: 22 July 2011 11:02 CEST

The giant Franco-Dutch airline will order 25 Airbus A350s and 25 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, and take out similar options on each, La Tribune daily said in its edition due to appear on Friday.

The order has attracted huge attention in France where officials and politicians have favoured Airbus — whose major plant lies in Toulouse, in the south of the country — over Boeing, touching on sensitive ground as the two companies fight it out.

La Tribune said Air France-KLM management will meet on Wednesday to make the decision which will then be announced in September.

The airline declined to comment when contacted by AFP about a high-profile order worth billions of dollars.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

A file photo of a Norwegian Air Shuttle plane in Finland.

A file photo of a Norwegian Air Shuttle plane in Finland. Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva / AFP

Low cost airline Norwegian has registered a loss of 14.9 billion Norwegian kroner for 2020, a year in which the company saw a drastic reduction in passenger numbers and was on the brink of bankruptcy.

The company published its annual results on Friday, revealing the huge operating loss.

Norwegian’s 2019 result, a loss of around 1.7 billion kroner, had put the company in a difficult position even prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus outbreak and its consequent travel restrictions reduced the company’s passenger numbers to 6.9 million in 2020. That is 29 million fewer than in 2019.

Not all of the loss is due to fewer passengers. Around half of the company’s devaluation is attributed to a depreciation of the value of its aircraft fleet, news wire Ritzau reports.

“2020 was an exceptionally demanding year for air travel and for Norwegian,” CEO Jacob Schram said in a statement on the annual results.

“In light of that, the result for the fourth quarter (of 2020) is not surprising. Unfortunately, the majority of our employees are furloughed and many have lost their jobs – in part because of the closure of long distance services,” he added.

The company was already in debt prior to the pandemic and is now under bankruptcy protection in Ireland and is undergoing similar process in Norway.

READ ALSO:

Url copied to clipboard!