Qantas Commits on Order for 8 Boeing 787s

By Paul Ausick Updated Apr 28, 3:51AM EDT · Published Aug 20, 8:05AM EDT

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Australia’s Qantas Airlines has been through a rough patch over the past several years. So rough, in fact, that the airline cancelled an order for 35 of Boeing Co.’s (NYSE: BA) 787-9 Dreamliners in 2012. Qantas did retain options on 20 of the planes and purchase rights for an additional 30, and it announced Thursday morning its intent to exercise its options on eight of the aircraft. This is not yet a firm order and Boeing will not add it to their order book until the details are finalized.

In August last year Qantas deferred its purchase option on five of the 787-9s. The planes, which had been scheduled for delivery to the airline in 2016, were slotted for delivery in 2017. The deferral gave Boeing some breathing space in a very tight delivery schedule for the 787. At the time, manufacturing slots for the 787 were filled through 2020.

The list price on the 787-9 is currently $246.6 million. When Qantas originally placed its order in 2005, the list price on the plane was $180 million. At today’s list price, the order is worth nearly $2 billion.

According to a report at All Things 787, Qantas has ordered eight 787-9s, of which three were 787-8s scheduled for delivery to the carrier’s low cost subsidiary Jetstar. The three options were converted to 787-9s and Qantas exercised an option on five additional 787-9s. The first four planes are expected to be delivered to Qantas between July 2017 and the end of June 2018. The second four are set to arrive between July 2018 and June 2019. The new airplanes will replace five of the carrier’s 747-400s.

Qantas’s replacement strategy, according to the report, appears to have settled at exercising options and rights just before they are about to expire, allowing the airline to take advantage of long-term fleet and route planning as the new planes replace the carrier’s 747s.

Boeing shares closed down about 1.3% on Wednesday, at $142.74 in a 52-week range of $116.32 to $158.83. Shares were inactive in Thursday’s premarket.

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About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for a673b.bigscoots-temp.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.