Boeing lands huge Lufthansa deal

CHICAGO, Dec. 5 (UPI) Longtime Airbus SA customer Deutsche Lufthansa AG will be the first to order Boeing Co.'s passenger version of its updated 747 jumbo jet.

The German carrier is expected to announced, perhaps by Wednesday, that it will place firm orders for 20 Boeing 747-8 planes, as well as taking options for 20 more, in a deal worth more than $5 billion at list prices, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Lufthansa, which reached a hand-shake deal with Boeing on the purchases last week, does not intend to cancel its order for Airbus A380 superjumbo jets, which seat 555 passengers. The 747-8 seats 467.

The deal could encourage other big carriers that fly 747s and have been considering the thrice-delayed A380 as a replacement to simply go with the 747-8.

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