OSLO, Norway (AP) — Norwegian Air Shuttle AS has ordered 42 new Boeing 737-800 airliners and acquired rights to purchase 42 more, the airline and Boeing Co. said Thursday.
The list price of the 42 planes being ordered is $3.1 billion, but buyers of multiple planes normally get a discount.
The companies said in a joint statement that the order is the biggest Boeing has received in Europe this year for 737 aircraft.
''These new aircraft will strengthen Norwegian's position in the Norwegian, Nordic and European markets,'' said Bjoern Kjos, the airline's managing director. ''These aircraft are also significantly more environmentally friendly than the ones we use today.''
The aircraft have 189 seats, and Norwegian said they cut fuel consumption by 33 percent compared to the oldest aircraft in the airline's fleet.
The planes will be delivered at the rate of up to 10 per year between 2009 and 2014, the news release said.
''With these planes, we can fly longer distances, and thus look at new and interesting routes,'' said Kjos.
The new order comes in addition to 11 leased 737-800s Norwegian ordered in May, the news release said.
Norwegian has rapidly expanded after changing its business model in 2002 from being a domestic commuter airline to a low-cost airline with destinations in Norway and abroad, challenging the Norwegian branch of the Scandinavian Airlines System, which then operated as SAS Braathens. Last year, Norwegian carried 5.1 million passengers.
