Spain's Air Europa to buy 14 Boeing 787 valued at $3.6bn

Spanish airline Air Europa said Thursday it had ordered 14 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners valued at $3.6 billion (3.0 billion euros) at list prices, in the largest ever Boeing wide-body order from a Spanish carrier.
The order was booked in December and has already been tallied in Boeing's orders, Air Europa said in a statement.
"The first Dreamliners will start to arrive in 2016, this will allow us to grow both the number of flights and destinations we will operate to by around 50 percent," Juan Jose Hidalgo, the president of Air Europa parent company Globalia, said in the statement.
Air Europa's fleet of 45 planes also includes Airbus and Embraer jets, but the airline said it now has a combined total of 22 Boeing 787-8s and Boeing 787-9s on order as part of its move to an all Boeing long-haul fleet.
"This order speaks to the economic performance of the 787," said Ricardo Cavero, Boeing deputy vice-president who is responsible for European sales.
The 787 Dreamliner can carry between 210 and 330 passengers and it offers features such as large windows, a smoother ride and greater fuel efficiency.
Boeing says its 787-9 can fly up to 40 more passengers an additional 830 miles (450 miles) with 20 percent less fuel and 20 percent fewer emissions than the 787-8 model which it will replace.
But production costs on the high-tech aircraft have not dropped as quickly as expected and Boeing has struggled with technical problems with the model which was launched in 2011, three years behind schedule.
Regulators around the world grounded Boeing's Dreamliner fleet during several months in 2013 while battery-related problems with the model were investigated.
Air Europa, based in Palma in the Balearic Islands, is one of Spain's largest airlines. It flies to over 40 destinations across Europe and the Americas.