Low-cost airline easyJet has bought 15 Airbus A320 single-aisle planes worth $1.1 billion, the British company said today, highlighting the aviation sector's recovery following the downturn.
The company added that it had agreed an option to purchase a further 33 of the medium-range planes from the European planemaker Airbus, which is a unit of aerospace giant EADS.
'EasyJet today announced that it has reached agreement with Airbus to exercise existing options over 15 Airbus A320 aircraft for delivery between 2012 and 2014 and to secure new options over a further 33 A320 aircraft,' the airline said.
It said that although the total list price for the 15 new A320 aircraft was about $1.1 billion, easyJet had won 'substantial confidential price concessions'.
The aviation sector, and easyJet in particular, is enjoying a solid recovery following the financial crisis. The budget airline flying passengers across Europe unveiled soaring annual profits in late 2010 and also announced plans for its first ever dividend.
Last week meanwhile, China Eastern Airlines agreed to buy 50 A320 airliners with a list price of $3.22 billion, in the latest sign of the Asian country's aviation boom.
Shandong Airlines also said last month that it planned to buy 15 Boeing passenger planes worth up to $1.2 billion.
China's rapidly expanding economy has seen the country's civil aviation sector grow at a blistering pace over the last few years, with few analysts seeing any likelihood of a slowdown.
