INT'L LEASE FINANCE <ILFC> DISCUSSING AIRBUS ORDER
International Lease
Finance Corp is negotiating with <Airbus Industrie> for
additional orders of A320 and A330 jets, according to ILFC
president Steven Udvar-Hazy.
    ILFC, a commercial aircraft leasing concern, last week set
conditional orders with Airbus, the European consortium, for
three short-haul A320s and three A330s.
    "We're negotiating with Airbus for additional units beyond
those six planes," Udvar-Hazy told Reuters in an interview.
"We're talking mainly about more A320s, but also about more
A330s," he said. He declined to elaborate.
    Reports in the French press today indicated that ILFC was
close to signing an agreement to buy 27 of the A320 jets.
    The total value of the order announced last week is 350 mln
dlrs. The jets are scheduled for delivery beginning in 1991.
However, the order for the A330s is conditional on a decision
by the Airbus board to launch the plane.
    Airbus has said it will decide by the end of this month
whether to launch the medium range A330 and the companion, long
range A340. It says it has 104 orders and options from nine
airlines for the two planes.
    ILFC is one of the launch customers for the A330,
Udvar-Hazy noted.
    Earlier today, Swissair dealt a blow to Airbus by opting to
order six MD-11 long range aircraft from McDonnell Douglas Corp
<MD>, Airbus's rival in the competition to provide a long range
passenger plane alternative to Boeing Co's <BA> new versions of
the 747.
 Reuter
