Posted on 11/28/2006 5:43:11 AM PST by rb22982
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- Air Berlin, Germany's No. 2 airline, said on Tuesday it would order 60 Boeing 737-800 jets.
The airline said 85 planes would be delivered between 2007 and 2014, adding that of those planes 25 would be for its subsidiary DBA, which it bought in August.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
IBPC Ping!
This is an order won over Airbus's bread-and-butter A320 in Airbus' own back yard.
This is good. Very, very good.
If anyone knows Boeings, the Germans most certainly do. They've had the most experience with them in the early forties.
LOL!
They certainly seem to be on a roll.
I could just imagine the response had the shoe been on the other foot.
It would have been completely unremarkable if Berlin Air had decided to go with the Airbus A320. European airlines have been buying up A320s like hotcakes for years. This is the natural market that you would expect Airbus to win, almost automatically.
For the Germans to buy the Boeing 737 instead is quite remarkable. I am sure there are some white knuckles in Tolouse today.
I can't believe they didn't buy the A320, a fine aircraft, and something that Airbus does RIGHT. Especially with the hardships Airbus has been having, I'd think a German company would throw Airbus a bone.
Most folks here think that the A320 is at least as good as the Boeing 737. As others have noted, a German airline is a natural customer for Airbus.
Why, then, buy the 737s?
If a company's product is good, and one is a long-term customer of the company, why might one go to another vendor for a product that offers no significant price/performance advantage?
Because one has doubts about the survivability of the first vendor?
That's the key. Air Berlin has always been Boeing-only. It was founded as a U.S. company during the Cold War, when U.S. airlines had the rights to operate intra-German flights. It's owned by Germans now, but they've been buying 737s for decades and AFAIK have never had any Airbii.
Correction: I looked it up, and they do have some A320s. But they have more 737s, and have had them longer.
Dear Turbopilot,
Thanks for the info. That makes it more understandable.
sitetest
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