Finnair buys 8 more Airbus A350s in deal worth $2.3 billion
Finnair announced on Wednesday that it will buy eight additional Airbus A350-900 jets from the European jetmaker. The deal would be valued at about $2.3 billion in list prices, though the large plane manufacturers typically offer substantial discounts to their airline customers.
Finnair was the first European carrier to place an order for the A350. Finnair placed that order in 2007 as part of a deal that included 11 firm orders with options for eight more. Wednesday's announcement firms up those options, a move that will give Finnair a total of 19 A350s.
The A350, of course, is the newest commercial passenger aircraft to be made by European jetmaker Airbus. It will be the first entirely new aircraft model to be rolled out by the world's two big jetmakers since Boeing delivered its first 787 "Dreamliner" in 2011. The A350, more than half of which will be made from carbon fibers, is set to be delivered to global launch customer Qatar Airways on Dec. 13.
As for Finnair, it plans to take delivery of the first of its 19 A350s in the fall of 2015, using the aircraft on its long-haul routes to Asia and North America.
"Our strategy centers on growth, taking advantage of the unique geographical location of our Helsinki Hub, which offers the fastest connections between Europe and Asia," Finnair CEO Pekka Vauramo says in a statement. "The A350XWB aircraft will be essential in delivering on our strategy, as they enable growth in both passenger and cargo traffic, offer our customers top class travel experience and considerably enhance our cost competitiveness."
Finnair intends to use the two-engine A350 to help it phase out its aging four-engine A340s. Finnair hopes to retire its A340s by the end of 2017, with FlightGlobal.com adding Airbus has agreed to buy back four of Finnair's A340s as part of the order to firm up the options on the eight A350s.
Finnair will configure its A350s with 297 seats, including 46 in business class that will be arranged in a 1-2-1 layout with direct aisle access for each. Each seat converts to a full-flat bed and has a 16-inch touch-screen in-flight entertainment system in addition to AC and USB power outlets.
Seats in Finnair's main economy cabin will be arranged in a 3-3-3- layout. The Zodiac Z300 slim-line seats will have 31-inch seat pitch. At the front of its economy section, Finnair will offer 43 Economy Comfort seats that it says come with "comfier headrests, high-quality headphones and four extra inches of leg room." All of the coach seats on Finnair's A350s will have an 11-inch touch screen inflight entertainment system and USB power outlets.