Airbus closes in on $2.5 billion Indonesian deal

Indonesia's Garuda is close to buying A330 jets worth about $2.5 billion from Europe's Airbus, two people familiar with the deal said, strengthening a bonanza for Western planemakers as the archipelago nation latches on to a boom in air travel. The deal is set to be unveiled by British Prime Minister David Cameron in Indonesia on Wednesday on the second stage of an Asia tour aimed at boosting trade ties with the region.
"Garuda is buying 11 units of the A330-300 that will be delivered in a timeframe between 2013 and 2017," said one source close to the deal on Tuesday, asking not to be identified. The deal will remain dwarfed, however, by a $22 billion order for Boeing jets from Garuda's low-cost rival Lion Air, showcased by US President Barack Obama during a trip to the same country in November. Indonesia was slow to join a dramatic expansion in air travel in the Asia-Pacific region.