Airbus lands $9.5bn deal in Japan

Airbus has landed a major order from Japan Airlines that represents a breakthrough business deal, the European airline maker said. JAL has never before ordered from Airbus, the main rival for US plane maker Boeing. It is also the first time any order has come from Japan for the Airbus 350 XWB, the airline said in a statement. The deal announcement Monday includes 18 wide-body 314-seat A350-900 jets and 13 350-seat A350-1000 jets, with an option of ordering 25 more jets. Delivery is expected to begin in 2019. The deal is currently worth about $9.5 billion, The New York Times reported. It is likely Airbus sweetened the deal to secure a contract with a Japanese airline, the newspaper said. Both JAL and All Nippon Airways operate mostly Boeing jets. Previous Airbus planes in JAL's fleet were purchased when it took over a smaller airline. All Nippon has never ordered wide-body jets from Airbus, the Times said. Both airlines, however, were early customers of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which had long production delays and were grounded for more than three months in the spring after a series of fires in battery compartments.