=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2005/01/06/f= inancial0616EST0020.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, January 6, 2005 (AP) German tour operator TUI to buy 10 Boeing jets, sell Airbus planes (01-06) 03:16 PST BERLIN (AP) -- German tour operator TUI AG said Thursday it has ordered 10 new jets from U.S. aircraft maker Boeing Co. and will sell five Airbus planes operated by its Hapag-Lloyd airline. The new Boeing 737-800s will be delivered between early 2006 and mid-200= 7, TUI said. Hapag-Lloyd's five Airbus A310 aircraft "will be sold in due course," leaving the airline with an all-Boeing fleet. "We are making use of the current opportunity of buying cost efficient aircraft at attractive prices to renew our fleet and retain the flexibility of our capacity planning," TUI board member Sebastian Ebel said. "We also benefit from the current favorable exchange rate." TUI did not disclose the value of the deal. The dollar's long slide against the euro gives American exporters a price advantage. Still, Boeing has slipped behind European rival Airbus over the past two years. On Wednesday, Boeing said it delivered 285 commercial airplanes in 2004. Airbus said two weeks ago it was on track to deliver as many as 320 aircraft, up from 305 the previous year when it surpassed Boeing for the first time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2005 AP