DUBAI (Reuters) -Boeing hit back at the Dubai Airshow with a provisional order for 75 of its 737 MAX jets from flydubai on Wednesday, a day after the long-time Boeing customer handed an order for 150 competing A321neo aircraft to its arch-rival Airbus.
Flydubai said in a statement that the order would include options for another 75 Boeing jets.
The defection to Airbus had been one of the major talking points of the largest Middle East aviation event, held at the site of a new airport that will be flydubai’s home by 2032.
Boeing had continued to negotiate a deal involving dozens of jets to claw back part of its share of the growth of one of its most important 737 MAX operators, Reuters reported this week.
The deal allows flydubai to choose at a later date which of three 737 MAX variants – the MAX 8, MAX 9 or the as-yet-uncertified MAX 10 – it needs, the airline said.
In an interview earlier, CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith described Boeing as “my home” and said the U.S. planemaker would emerge stronger from its recent crisis, but noted the Airbus planes had been chosen mainly for their extra range and size.
(Ahmed Elimam, Federico Maccioni, Tim Hepher; Editing by Conor Humphries)
