Turkish P.M. And French President To Sign Pre-contract On Purchase Of Airbus Planes

PARIS - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and French President Jacques Chirac will sign a pre-contract on Turkish Airlines' (THY) purchase of 36 planes from Airbus firm, sources said on Wednesday.
The sources said that the signature ceremony would be held today at the Elysee Palace.
Under the pre-agreement, THY expresses its will to buy 36 A-320, A-321 and A-330 planes from Airbus company.
It was learned that the planes would cost 1.5 billion U.S. dollars, while financial leasing and operational leasing would be taken from European Eximbank for the Airbus planes.
The Airbus planes would be delivered to Turkey, starting from end 2005, the sources said. They added that the planes would continue to be handed over to Turkey in 2006 and 2007.
Sources also said that THY would purchase 15 Boeing-738 planes from the U.S. Boeing company.
(BRC-ULG) 21.07.2004