MUSCAT: Boeing won a key endorsement from United Airlines for the latest model of its best-selling 737 on Tuesday and struck an upbeat tone by raising its 20-year industry demand forecast despite signs the pace of growth is slowing.
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.
Gerry Laderman, United senior vice president, said the MAX 10 had “the best economics of the family”, a boost for a plane Boeing designed to plug a gap in its range at the top end of the market for single-aisle jets, following runaway sales of the rival Airbus A321neo.
The United deal brought the number of MAX 10s covered by air show order announcements to a higher than expected total of more than 320, though more than half were conversions and underlying new orders and commitments for Boeing stood closer to 160.
Despite the interest in the MAX 10, analysts expect passenger jet orders at the Paris Airshow to fall short of recent boom years, as airlines digest a flood of deliveries.
But over the longer term, Boeing sees an industry in rude health, forecasting 41,030 passenger and freight plane deliveries worth more than $6 trillion over the next two decades, up from 39,620 in a similar projection a year ago.
Boeing’s projection includes a 5 per cent increase in the 20-year forecast for deliveries of single-aisle aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 families, the cash cows of the world’s two largest aircraft manufacturers.
In a sign of that interest, aircraft leasing company Avolon announced a provisional deal to buy 75 Boeing 737 MAX 8s worth $8.4 billion at list prices and said it would have a “hard look” at possible orders for the MAX 10. Airbus agreed a provisional $5 billion deal with low-cost carrier Viva Air, confirming a Reuters report.
The European planemaker has seen arch-rival Boeing grab most of the headlines so far, but could turn to one of its top buyers as a potential wild card for the show, industry sources said.
AirAsia co-founder Tony Fernandes remained in Paris on Tuesday after signing a data deal with Airbus and picking up an airline award, and could use the opportunity to evaluate jets at attractive prices as new orders wane.
Asked by Reuters whether he would return to the show on ednesday, a move that would typically signal he is in the market to buy, Fernandes said, “We’ll see”.
