Citing the global economic downturn, Australian airline Qantas announced Friday that it had cancelled an order for 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, saving the company $3 billion.

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AFP - Australia's Qantas on Friday cancelled an order for 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, citing dramatic changes to the global economic environment.



"Qantas announced its original B787 order in December 2005, and the operating environment for the world's airlines has clearly changed dramatically since then," Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said in a statement.



Joyce said the cancellation, which would save Qantas three billion US dollars, had not been influenced by the delay of Dreamliner's inaugural flight earlier this week due to a design flaw.



The statement said Qantas and Boeing had also agreed to postpone delivery of a further 15 Dreamliners.

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