Kingfisher order five Airbus A340-500

Mumbai: In a deal worth roughly a billion dollars, the UB group promoted Kingfisher Airlines on Monday ordered five Airbus A340-500 aircraft, with an option to take five more.
The first of the ultra-long range aircraft is scheduled for delivery in ‘08. The agreement was signed by the airline chairman Vijay Mallya and the Airbus CEO Gustav Humbert at a special ceremony in Hannover, attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the German chancellor Angela Merkel.
Though the list-price for the aircraft is roughly $198m per plane, airline industry sources said airlines are frequently able to obtain 30 to 40% discount on this price. All five A340s will be powered by four Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines, which burn up to 20% less fuel than older generation engines.
Most airlines have chosen the competing Boeing 777-200 LR, which notched 36 orders during the year. Two Indian carriers Air-India and Jet Airways, have ordered Boeing 777s, for their long-haul operations. The A340 is a four engine aircraft versus two engines for the Boeing 777.
Kingfisher has 30 more single aisle aircraft on order from Airbus. These include firm orders for five A380s, five A330s and five A350s for use on long-range international and regional services.
25/04/06 Economic Times

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