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Boeing loses big European order

Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2002 | 9:48 a.m.

LONDON -- EasyJet PLC has agreed in principle to buy 120 planes from European aircraft maker Airbus SAS with an option to purchase another 120 over the next decade, the airline said Monday.

The long-awaited deal is a snub to The Boeing Co., which has long been the preferred supplier to low-cost operators in Europe and the United States. EasyJet is only the second low-cost carrier, after JetBlue Airways Corp., to order Airbus planes.

However, the deal may be an expensive one for Airbus. Britain's easyJet said it will pay about 30 percent less for the airplanes than it paid for Boeing 737s almost four years ago after adjusting for inflation. This suggests a deep discount to the roughly $51 million catalog price for both models.

"Low-cost companies remain low-cost by not wasting money," said easyJet Chairman Stelios Haji-Ioannou. "Sticking to old-fashioned fads like 'low cost airlines only fly Boeing' does not reduce costs."

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