Thai Airways has agreed to buy six Airbus A380s, becoming the 13th airline to order the new "super jumbo," the European aircraft maker said Friday. Thai Airways International Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire six of the 555-seaters in 2008 and 2009, as well as two A340 long-range jets, Airbus said in a statement. The deal is worth up to US$2.1 billion (¤1.7 billion) at list prices. But Airbus spokesman Tore Prang said final details of the order had yet to be negotiated with the airline. The Airbus statement said Thai Airways planned to use the A380s on long-haul routes from Bangkok to European destinations. Toulouse-based Airbus SAS is betting its future on strong demand for the A380 for busy long-haul routes. So far it has 129 firm orders as well as commitments to buy another 10 planes from a total of 13 customers. The A380 is set to enter service in 2006. --more 1455 Local Time 1155 GMT
