One word of caution: Air Show "commitments" don't always materialize to become actual purchases. Blue Air's fleet now includes 29 Boeing 737 aircraft.
The 737 MAX is the fastest selling airplane in Boeing history.
Also on Tuesday, Blue Air concluded a long-term lease agreement with US-based Air Lease Corporation (ALC) for six new Boeing 737 MAX 8 and six used 737-800 aircraft.
Boeing flew past Airbus in the race for plane orders at this year's Paris Air Show, thanks to a surge in interest in the newest version of the 737.
Boeing reported Thursday it registered firm orders or promised orders for 571 planes this week, worth $74.8 billion at list prices.
A day after the launch of the 737 MAX 10 at the world's biggest air show in Paris, United said it would convert an order for 100 other 737 MAX planes to the new model. The MAX 8 and 9 will be followed in 2019 by the introduction of a smaller, long range MAX 7 and a 200-seat MAX 8.
Official urges limited Fed role in addressing US inequality
That will keep Treasury yields down and force the Fed to postpone its next rate increase, he wrote in a note to clients Friday. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester did not comment on interest rates or USA economic prospects in her prepared remarks.
"Airlines wanted a larger, better option in the large single-aisle segment with the operating advantages of the 737 MAX family", said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Kevin McAllister. According to John Leahy, the chief salesman at Airbus, the Max 10 is a bigger competitor to the Max 9 and this was probably why there were a lot of conversions.
Industry executives say it's that imbalance that drove Boeing to offer airlines the single-aisle Max 10. The fact that the orders and commitments now consist of 25% lessor orders, shows that there is a certain level of confidence in demand for the product and technical performance.
Leahy also disclosed that he met with Tim Clark, head of Emirates airline which is the main customer of the A380, Airbus's superjumbo, that it has had to slow production of due to a lack of orders over the past 18 months.
But analysts expect demand at the June 19-25 event to fall short of recent years, and some aviation companies themselves have cut back staff and hospitality at the show. Most of the aircraft's orders and commitments indeed did come from conversions, but this was to be expected. Airbus' U.S. -listed shares weren't active early.
"We continue to see great demand for the 737 MAX family of airplanes across all regions around the world and today's [June 22] announcement is a testament to the growth of our market", said Ihssane Mounir, senior vice-president, global sales and marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.





Comments