The aerospace giant emerged triumphant from this year’s Paris Air Show, where it launched the latest model of its best-selling 737, the MAX 10.
In total Boeing came away from the aerospace industry’s biggest gathering of the year with more than 570 orders and commitments, valued at $74.8 billion. Of these, 147 are new orders for the 737 MAX 10; another 214 are conversions to the MAX 10 from other models. A key endorsement came from United Airlines, which said it will convert an order for 100 other 737 MAX planes to the new model. The largest in the 737 family, MAX 10 was built to compete with European rival Airbus’s popular A321.
“The MAX stole the show”, said Ihssane Mounir, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Boeing's commercial aircraft division. “This is probably one of our busiest air shows.” Flush with optimism, Boeing bumped up its 20-year industry demand forecast to 41,030 passenger and freight plane deliveries, worth more than $6 trillion. This includes a 5% increase for single-aisle aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320 lines, mainstays of the world’s two largest aircraft manufacturers.
Boeing’s other deals from the show included a firm order for 125 737 MAX 8 airplanes from an unnamed buyer, and a deal with lessor AerCap to convert 15 of its MAX 8 orders to the MAX 10, Reuters reports. Chinese domestic Ruili Airlines signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Boeing for 20 737 MAX 8 aircraft. Avolon, a Chinese-owned aircraft lessor headquartered in Ireland, ordered 75 MAX 8s and said it would have a “hard look” at possible orders for the MAX 10.
Airbus won 326 new orders and commitments in total, valued at just under $40 billion. This includes deals for nearly 100 aircraft with AirAsia and privately owned Iranian carriers Zagros Airlines and Iran Airtour. Historically, Airbus has outperformed Boeing at large industry gatherings. Chief Operating Officer John Leahy said a slowdown in orders was expected, but also pointed out that the two companies were about equal in terms of firm orders. Leahy did not expect the MAX 10 to be a viable competitor to the A321. “They’re clearly going to come after us on price,” he said.
Overall, deals were more than double the $50 billion seen at last year’s show in Farnborough, England and the highest in at least eight years. Most analysts had expected demand to be soft. “This time we've got instability and uncertainty in many regions of the world, but airline traffic is strong, and as we've seen at this show, airlines want jets and the finance people are certainly happy to help,” said Analyst Richard Aboulafia of Virginia-based Teal Group.
