Aircraft order would add Boeing 787s to new airline Riyadh Air and Saudi Arabia’s existing carrier Saudia

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners, under construction at a company facility in South Carolina, are popular for their fuel efficiency.

Two Saudi Arabian airlines are nearing a deal to buy a total of about 80 Boeing Co. BA 0.15%increase; green up pointing triangle 787 Dreamliners with options for some 40 more, people familiar with the matter said, another significant order for the American aircraft manufacturer.

Riyadh Air, a new airline launched by the Saudi sovereign-wealth fund over the weekend, is expected to commit to purchasing 39 of the wide-body jets, while existing carrier Saudia is expected to buy the same number of jets, these people said.

The agreement, which is expected to be announced as early as Tuesday, is expected to come with options to buy about 40 additional Dreamliners among the airlines, these people said.

The Wall Street Journal over the weekend reported that the Boeing aircraft order was valued at about $35 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. It couldn’t be immediately determined whether that included the typically steep discounts aircraft makers give their customers, or whether that figure included the jets for Saudia too.

The wide-body jets are popular among the world’s airlines for their fuel efficiency and ability to profitably carry passengers on long-haul international routes. Each carries a list price of about $300 million before typical discounts, according to Boeing’s latest publicly available list prices.

Excerpt from WSJ
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