Airbus announced a deal with Singapore Airlines on Friday potentially worth USD$7.5 billion as the Asian carrier became the first to commit to the new A350 XWB model and underscored its faith in the A380 superjumbo by pledging to buy more.
Airbus unveiled plans for the A350 XWB (extra wide body) on Monday, capping two years of design changes to a plane now due in 2012.
Singapore said it had signed a letter of intent (LOI) to buy 20 Airbus A350 XWB-900s and nine additional Airbus A380-800 superjumbos.
The airline said in a statement that it would also take options for another 20 A350s, which seat 314 passengers. It also holds options to take six more A380s, which seat 555 on twin decks.
The orders mark a key win for Airbus after Singapore announced plans last month to buy 20 of the rival 787-9 model from Boeing and to take purchase rights on a further 20.
Singapore also flies the world's biggest fleet of 777s, another Boeing model which the A350 is designed to compete against.
"It is heartening that Airbus has listened to customer airlines and has come up with a totally new design for the A350," Singapore Airlines Chief Executive Chew Choon Seng said in a statement.
"The technical specifications and guaranteed performance will make it a very competitive aircraft in its class for the coming decades."
The A350s are due to be delivered between 2012 and 2014.
Singapore is set later this year to be the first to fly the A380 superjumbo, a USD$300 million double-decker which has caused Airbus headaches because of wiring installation problems set to delay deliveries over the program's first three years.
Singapore said that Airbus had demonstrated that the engineering performance of the A380 was sound.
It expects to take delivery of the nine additional A380s, which come on top of 10 already on order, beginning in 2008.
"This is a re-endorsement of our A380 program from one of our first and most prestigious customers. Singapore was no doubt disappointed on delivery delays but they are clearly committed to the A380 program," Airbus sales chief John Leahy said at the Farnborough International Airshow.
The year's biggest air show began on Monday near London, triggering a busy week with Airbus and Boeing announcing firm and tentative deals involving more than 200 planes.
Singapore said it planned to make arrangements with Airbus to lease 19 A330-300 aircraft from early 2009 until late 2010 to meet its capacity needs while it awaits new planes from Airbus and Boeing.
