Boeing reveals buyer

News

Boeing has identified Virgin Blue Airlines as the carrier that last month exercised purchase rights for nine Next-Generation 737-800 airplanes worth $634.5 million at list prices.

Boeing

has identified

Virgin Blue Airlines

as the carrier that last month exercised purchase rights for nine Next-Generation 737-800 airplanes.

The order, valued at $634.5 million at list prices, was previously included on Boeing's Orders and Deliveries Web site and attributed to an unidentified customer.

Deliveries of these airplanes to the Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-based low-cost carrier begin in 2008. Virgin Blue operates an all-Boeing fleet of 52 Next-Generation 737s and will use the new aircraft to replace leased planes in its fleet.

"The Next-Generation 737 is a reliable and cost-efficient aircraft, which is essential in our competitive low-cost market," said Brett Godfrey, Virgin Blue's CEO.

The airline's fleet is a mix of 737-700s and 737-800s, running a route network stretching from Darwin in northern Australia to Perth in the West and Hobart in the South, and includes high-frequency East Coast services between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.