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Dubai: Gulf Air has firmed up an order for eight new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, raising to 24 the number of new planes it is awaiting delivery, the state news agency reported.
The kingdom already had an order for 16 Boeing 787s with an option to add eight more. The news agency did not put a value on the order, but all 24 were worth about $3.9 billion at list prices when the deal was struck in January.
State-owned Gulf Air said in April it had no plans to cancel its Boeing order after the plane maker announced a further six-month production delay that had airlines queuing up for compensation.
The 787 had been held up as Boeing made slow progress on assembling the plane and struggled to make suppliers perform.
The original 16 planes are due for delivery in 2016.
Gulf Air also announced a firm order for 35 single aisle and widebody aircraft from Airbus in May. That deal was worth around $4.5 billion at list prices.
Gulf Air last year slashed its network and cuts its workforce by about 25 percent, or some 1,500 jobs, after announcing losses of more than $1 million a day.
Gulf Air is owned by Bahrain Mumtalakat Holdings, a $10 billion state-owned investment agency.
It currently runs a fleet of 29 planes and is looking to replace some of its ageing aircraft.
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