Boeing took a sizeable hit to its foreign sales this week when Australia’s Qantas Airways canceled an $8.5 billion order for new 787-9 Dreamliner jets.

Qantas was supposed to purchase 35 of the planes. But declining revenues and rising fuel costs prompted the airline, which recorded its first full-year net loss in 17 years, to slash spending. Last year, Qantas lost $254.8 million.

The cancellation represented the biggest of its kind for the Dreamliner since Boeing began selling it. In March, China Eastern gave up on buying 24 787’s.

The manufacturer currently has more than 800 Dreamliners in its inventory.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

Qantas Posts Loss, Cancels Dreamliner Orders to Cut Costs (by Jane Wardell, Reuters)

Boeing Loses 35 Dreamliners Orders From Qantas After Delays (David Fickling and Susanna Ray, Bloomberg News)

Boeing Launches First Non-Union Airplane (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)