With the amount of good economic news on the increase on a regular basis, Boeing Aircraft is no exception as they are seeing increases in orders from both commercial airlines and government/military customers. Following a fairly dismal 2010, this year is off to a great start for Boeing and all information tends to point toward a great overall year. While the company has not seen a large increase in orders from domestic airlines, there have been many orders coming from airlines outside of the US. The majority of the orders for international customers are from Asia and the Middle East where the economy has recovered more quickly from the recent downturn.
Earlier this month Qatar Airways signed a purchase agreement with Boeing Aircraft that was valued at $1.3 billion. This contract was for the purchase of 5 model 777 aircraft, which adds to the airlines existing fleet of 93 aircraft and 25 of those are Boeing 777′s. The delivery of this order will likely coincide with the opening of a new airport that is being built in Qatar. This new airport will have a very large capacity with the capability of handling around 50 million passengers per year. Boeing also recently announced another purchase agreement with Kenya Airways.
The deal with Kenya Airways is valued at approximately $1.8 billion, although this is an estimate as neither Kenya Airways or Boeing have released an official value. This order is for nine Boeing Aircraft Model 787-8 Dreamliners, with an option to purchase four additional aircraft if needed in the future. Kenya Airways is scheduled to receive the first aircraft late in 2013 with subsequent deliveries being made in the following year. These new Dreamliners will serve as replacement aircraft for some of the airlines aging aircraft and some will serve as a means for expansion. Kenya Airways plans to retire six of their Boeing 767 aircraft with these new models and the remaining three will be used for expanding existing routes and adding new routes.
The deals mentioned above give Boeing a good boost to the already impressive amount of orders received this year but they have also been working on a series of deals with India and the Indian Air Force. There are several deals in the works with India for C-17 Cargo Aircraft, P8I Aircraft, and F/A-18 fighter Jets. The contract is already in place for the P8I aircraft but the deals for the others are still in the works. The most significant would be the F/A-18 as India is looking to buy 126 fighter jets and Boeing’s proposal is one of several in the running.
With any luck the combination of the existing business with India will help Boeing secure the deal for the 126 fighter jets, which would be a very large order. Regardless of how these deals work out, it is clear that Boeing Aircraft is in good shape and looking better every day.
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