By David Shepardson and Daphne Psaledakis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration announced Thursday new deals to sell up to 37 Boeing airplanes to airlines in the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The Commerce Department said Kazakhstan flag carrier Air Astana plans to buy up to 15 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners to grow and modernize its fleet.
The orders were signed at the C5+1 Summit in Washington on the 10th anniversary of the diplomatic meeting of the leaders of five Central Asian republics and the United States.
Air Astana currently operates three Boeing 767 widebody jets connecting Kazakhstan with destinations in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The new planes will enable expansion into North America, Boeing said.
Tajikistan’s national carrier Somon Air plans to buy up to 14 Boeing airplanes including four 787s and 10 737 MAX airplanes, Commerce said, while Uzbekistan Airways plans to buy eight additional 787 planes.
Orders for new U.S.-made Boeing planes have featured heavily in trade deals and negotiations with foreign governments and Trump.
Boeing has won orders for hundreds of new airplanes this year announced as part of trade agreements.
One big order not yet finalized is with China. Boeing is in talks to sell as many as 500 jets to China, Reuters reported in September, which would represent a major breakthrough for the company in the world’s second-largest aviation market, where orders have stalled amid U.S.-China trade tensions.
(Reporting by David Shepardson and Daphne Psaledakis; Writing by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
