Virgin Atlantic Orders 15 Boeing 787s and Commits to 28 More

Virgin Atlantic Airways has ordered 15 Boeing 787-9s and secured options and purchase commitments for up to 28 more. Credit: Boeing Photo.

Virgin Atlantic Airways has ordered 15 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, marking the largest 787 order to date for Europe.

The order, worth approximately $2.8 billion at list prices, was previously listed on Boeing's Orders and Deliveries Web site and attributed to an unidentified customer. The order also includes options for an additional eight 787-9s and purchase rights for an additional 20 787s.

The order forms part of an environmental partnership that Virgin Atlantic and Boeing also announced today. It includes a joint biofuel demonstration aimed at developing sustainable fuel sources suitable for commercial jet engines and the aviation industry. The demonstration, scheduled for 2008 using a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400, is being worked jointly with GE Aviation and Virgin Fuels. Further details will be announced later this year.

In addition, Boeing and Virgin Atlantic are working together on reducing fuel burn and cutting aircraft emissions on the ground by exploring alternatives to traditional aircraft operations at airports.

For example, the two companies are partnering on trials of towing airplanes to "starting grids," areas close to the active runway to start engines preflight, with a goal of reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions by up to 50 percent, as well as limiting community noise. Trials conducted to date at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports and San Francisco International Airport have produced positive results and work continues to develop alternative operational procedures at the world's busiest airports.