Two Chinese airlines buy $10bn of Boeing planes

Boeing just landed $10 billion in sales from two Chinese airlines.

Bloomberg reports:

China Southern Airlines Co., Asia’s largest carrier by number of passengers, ordered 110 planes worth about $10 billion from Boeing Co., adding more efficient aircraft to its fleet with China set to become the world’s largest travel market in the next 20 years. The Guangzhou-based carrier will buy 30 737NG and 50 737MAX models, valued at $7.24 billion at list prices, the company said in a statement Thursday. The prices are before the discounts that are typical in the industry. China Southern’s Xiamen Airlines unit also agreed to buy 30 737MAX planes for a total of $2.88 billion before discounts, China Southern said in a separate exchange filing.

"China Southern’s commitment is a solid endorsement of the popularity of the Next-Generation 737 and 737 MAX," Ihssane Mounir, Boeing Commercial Airplanes’s senior vice president for Northeast Asia sales, said in an e-mailed statement. China Southern said the order was in line with its strategy under the country’s 13th five-year plan, which takes effect next year. Asian air travel growth is lifting orders for planemakers Boeing and Airbus Group SE, with China forecast to surpass the U.S. as the world’s largest aircraft market within the next two decades. The country’s economic expansion is making air travel affordable to more people, prompting carriers such as China Southern and Air China Ltd. to boost their fleets. China is also forecast to become the world’s biggest air-travel market, according to Boeing.

Reuters writes:

The deal comes less than three months after China President Xi Jinping visited Boeing's widebody commercial airplane factory during his state visit to the United States. Boeing announced orders and commitments for 300 Boeing aircraft during Xi's visit, as well a partnership with Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (Comac) to open a China completion center for the delivery of Boeing 737 aircraft. China Southern also said it has agreed to sell to Boeing 13 B757 and three B733 along with spare engines.