Having failed for the first time in many years to secure any orders in the month of January, Boeing has confirmed that Japan’s ANA Holdings Inc (ANA) has placed an order for 15 more 787 Dreamliners worth an estimated US$5 billion at list price.
However, the news is not so good for Roll-Royce who had been the engine supplier for previous Dreamliners delivered to ANA. This time the Japanese carrier has opted for General Electric engines to power the latest jets which will comprise 11 787-10 stretch versions and four shorter 787-9s, with options for a further five 787-9s. The change is likely as a result of extra inspections required by the Rolls-Royce engines in 2018 which forced ANA to cancel hundreds of flights.
“As the 787 becomes a larger share of our fleet size, we have made the decision to diversify some of the components to minimize single source risks,” an ANA spokeswoman said. In a separate filing, ANA confirmed 12 of the 15 aircraft on firm order would be purchased directly from Boeing and the remaining three from a subsidiary of Japanese trading house Sojitz Corp. In a news release issued by ANA on Tuesday, ANA advised that the first delivery will be in the business year beginning April 2022.
ANA was the 787 launch customer and is the world’s biggest operator of the plane; this latest order bringing total purchases to 98, with 71 of the jets currently in operation.
