British budget airline EasyJet plc said it would expand its fleet with more Airbus jets, with an order for 35 current generation A320 aircraft and 100 new generation A320neo.
The A320 aircraft would be delivered between 2015 and 2017 under an existing agreement, it said, and the next generation aircraft would be delivered between 2017 and 2022 under a new deal.
It said it had also agreed rights to buy up to a further 100 A320neo family aircraft. The total list price of the planes would be about $11.5 billion, though easyJet said that it hadnegotiated a “very substantial” discount. Chief executive Carolyn McCall said both Airbus and Boeing competed hard for the EasyJet business.
“Ultimately, Airbus offered us the best deal, and at a price with a greater discount to the list price than their landmark fleet purchase with EasyJet in 2002,” she said.
EasyJet began operations in 1995 with Boeing aircraft but shifted to Airbus in 2002 with a deal for 120 A319s, plus options for a further 120, after a bitter competition.