Two charter carriers, Blue Panorama of Italy and First Choice Airways of the United Kingdom, are the first in Europe that plan to buy 7E7 Dreamliner passenger jets, The Boeing Co. said Wednesday.
Blue Panorama plans to order four of the 230-passenger Boeing 7E7 jets while First Choice, formerly Air 2000, expects to buy six, according to a statement issued by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Japan’s All Nippon Airways ordered 50 in April and Air New Zealand opted for two last month.
The 230-passenger planes are scheduled to enter service in 2008.
Contract negotiations for orders by Blue Panorama and First Choice should be completed later this year and deliveries would begin in 2009, according to the Boeing announcement.
The 10 planes would be worth $1.2 billion at list prices, but airlines typically negotiate substantial discounts on multiple orders. Neither carrier has decided whether to order General Electric GENX or Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines, Boeing said.
