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Bloomberg
Boeing Co. secured orders for 50 737 Max narrow-body planes, padding its tally at the Dubai Airshow while building momentum for the grounded aircraft ahead of its potential return to the skies in coming weeks.
Kazakhstan’s Air Astana signed a letter of intent for 30 jets, Boeing announced on Tuesday, while an undisclosed customer bought 20, according to a person familiar with the matter. The orders come after SunExpress purchased 10 planes, giving a total value of about $7.5 billion at list prices.
“This was a tendered competition we fought hard for and won,†Stan Deal, the new head of Boeing’s jetliner business, said of the Air Astana order. The sale will be especially welcome since the Central Asian carrier is an established customer for Airbus SE’s rival A320neo.
Business for Max has been sparse since the latest version of the storied 737 series was idled in March after two deadly crashes in five months. Boeing is working with regulators to certify a fix to flight-automation software that was involved in both fatal disasters and has said it’s aiming for Federal Aviation Administration approval to return the Max to the skies by year-end.