Top News

Lion Air can afford huge Boeing order

Published Updated

"People should understand that they should not look down on somebody in the Third World. Just because we are businessmen from the Third World, doesn't mean we can't afford them," airline Chief Executive Rusdi Kirana told Reuters a day after signing the deal at the Singapore Airshow.

The order, worth $22 billion at list prices, is for 230 jets including a model due to enter service starting from 2017.

"They start in 2017 so there is a lot of flexibility," Kirana said. Financing includes some support from the US ExIm bank export credit agency, the amount of which remains to be determined, Kirana added.

Copyright Reuters, 2012