Aviation

Singapore Airlines to Buy A350 Freighters as Cargo Booms

The deal allowed the airline to swap part of its order for 15 A320neo jetliners and two A350-900 passenger versions it previously ordered from Airbus and remain to be delivered. Reuters file photo.

Airbus SE said on Wednesday it has finalised a deal to sell seven A350 freighters to Singapore Airlines, in a deal that would make it the first airline to operate the new model.

Singapore Airlines had in December said it had signed a provisional agreement to buy the freighters.

“The order underscores the importance of the cargo market to the SIA Group,” Goh Choon Phong, the airline’s CEO, said in a statement. “These new-generation aircraft will substantially increase our operating efficiencies and reduce our fuel burn.”

The new freighters will replace Singapore Airlines’ own fleet of seven ageing Boeing 747s. The companies did not provide a value for the order, which was signed at the Singapore Airshow.

The deal allows the airline to swap part of the order for 15 A320neo jetliners and two A350-900 passenger versions that it had previously ordered from Airbus and remain to be delivered.

Those 17 planes had a list value of $2.3 billion when Airbus last published prices in 2018, roughly the same price as the estimated value of the freighters.

Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara

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Sean O'Meara

Sean O'Meara is an Editor at Asia Financial. He has been a newspaper man for more than 30 years, working at local, regional and national titles in the UK as a writer, sub-editor, page designer and print editor. A football, cricket and rugby fan, he has a particular interest in sports finance.