In a move that has been expected for at least two weeks, FedEx Inc. (NYSE: FDX) announced late Tuesday that it has placed a firm order for 50 additional 767-300F freighters with Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA). At a list price of $199.3 million per plane the order is worth $9.97 billion. FedEx also has placed an option on another 50 of the planes.

In our first report on the possibility of this order, we cited Leeham News and Comment, which had suggested that in addition to the 767Fs, FedEx may order as many as 10 777Fs. FedEx did not announce any 777F orders. At a list price of $318.7 million per copy, an order for 10 additional 777Fs would have meant another $3.2 billion for Boeing. FedEx operates 25 of Boeing’s 777-200s and has nine more 777Fs on order.

FedEx has a total fleet of 378 planes, of which 88 are Airbus A300s and A310s and most of the rest are Boeing jets. FedEx continues to operate 105 McDonnell-Douglas DC-10s and MD-11s, as well as 102 Boeing 757-200s, all of which are long out of production. The company currently includes 23 767-300s in its fleet and has another 37 on order, according to Planespotters.net.

Boeing’s order book for the 767 currently includes 35 unfilled firm orders from FedEx for the 767-300F, and the company has not yet added the new FedEx order to its online order status page.

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FedEx said deliveries of the new planes will begin in fiscal year 2018 and continue through fiscal year 2023. By FedEx’s count, the air freight company has 106 unfilled, firm orders for 767s. The company’s CEO said:

Acquiring additional 767F aircraft is a continuation of our very successful air fleet modernization program and will enable us to reduce structural costs, improve our fuel efficiency and enhance the reliability of our global network.

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