boeing Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it has reached a deal to sell 78 of its 787 Dreamliner planes to two Saudi airlines, the latest large order for the wide-body jet in the past few months.
The jetliners will go to Saudi Arabian Airlines, or Saudia, and a new airline called Riyadh Air, which was announced over the weekend by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi ordered 39 planes, with options for 10 more, and Riyadh Air will get 39 of the two largest models of planes, with options for 33 more.
Boeing did not disclose the delivery timeline of the planes. The White House said the order is worth about $37 billion, though that figure doesn’t take into account the discounts typically available to airlines, especially for larger orders.
“It will support the country’s goal of serving 330 million passengers and attracting 100 million trips by 2030,” Riyadh Air said in a news release.
A worker works on the tail section of a Boeing Co. Dreamliner 787 aircraft at the company’s final assembly facility in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Travis Dove | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Sales show an uptick in demand for wide-body jets, planes that are used for long-distance flights and fetch higher prices than more common narrow-body jets.
Riyadh Air is owned by the country’s sovereign wealth fund and will be operated by Tony Douglas, longtime industry veteran and former CEO of Etihad Airways.
“The ambition here in the state is huge,” Douglas said in an interview with CNBC.screaming in the street.” “there will be more [aircraft] order, for the avoidance of doubt.”
He said the order would help connect Saudi Arabia to 100 destinations.
In December, United Airlines agreed to buy on at least 100 dreamliners from Boeing and last month, from Air India placed an order 460 for Boeing and Airbus aircraft.
ready for boeing resume delivery It was revealed last month as a result of a data analysis issue following a week-long grounding of the Dreamliner planes this week. CEO Dave Calhoun told CNBC on Tuesday that resuming deliveries is “imminent.”
Boeing shares were up nearly 4% on Tuesday broad market,
The company said later Tuesday that it delivered 28 planes in February, 24 of which were 737 Max planes, up from a total of 22 deliveries a year earlier.
Correction: Boeing said Tuesday that it delivered 28 planes in February. An earlier version misidentified the company.
