(Bloomberg) -- Qantas Airways Ltd. ordered as many as 36 Airbus SE A321 XLRs, the latest endorsement for the manufacturer's newly introduced extra-long-range jet.
The Australian airline is converting 26 planes in its existing A321neo order into XLRs, and adding a further 10, it said in a statement Wednesday. The additional order is worth about $1.4 billion, based on a list price of $142 million per XLR.
Airbus Jumps Ahead With New Jet in Paris While Boeing Founders
Qantas is focused on tapping demand from Asia, the world's fastest-growing travel market. With the added range of the XLR, the airline said it will be able to fly narrow-body aircraft on routes such as Cairns-Tokyo and Melbourne-Singapore.
“That changes the economics of lots of potential routes into Asia to make them not just physically possible but financially attractive,” Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said in the statement.
Qantas shares rose 0.7% to A$5.51 at 1:37 p.m. in Sydney. The new planes will be delivered from 2024.
The twin-engine A321 XLR can travel 4,700 nautical miles, more than any other narrow-body on the market. The plane is positioned as a more fuel-efficient successor to Boeing Co.'s discontinued 757, able to connect smaller cities that can't support service by big wide-body jets.
The order from Qantas follows similar deals announced at the Paris Air Show, including from British Airways-owner IAG SA and influential lessor Air Lease Corp.
To contact the reporter on this story: Angus Whitley in Sydney at awhitley1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net, Ville Heiskanen
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