BA Boeing Co

   By Benjamin Katz 
 

Boeing Co. (BA) booked orders for 50 of its crisis-hit 737 MAX at this week's Dubai Air Show as the embattled plane maker picks up important sales for the grounded aircraft.

Kazakhstan's Air Astana, already a customer for Airbus SE's (AIR.FR) rival A320neo, said Tuesday that it has signed a letter of intent for 30 MAX jets, marking a miniature coup for Boeing. The commitment is valued at $3.6 billion.

The U.S. manufacturer also signed a firm order valued at $2.3 billion for 20 of the aircraft at the air show from an undisclosed customer, comprising 10 orders for the 737 MAX 7 and 10 for the 737 MAX 10, according to a person familiar with the matter.

That order is expected to be announced at a separate ceremony in the airline customer's home market.

The deals follow on from an agreement signed yesterday for 10 more MAX jets from SunExpress, a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE).

The orders are critical for Boeing at a time when its historically best-selling aircraft has been restricted from flying after two fatal crashes led to its grounding globally, with sales of the jet stalled since.

Still, the numbers are a far cry from deals secured by Airbus this year for its own narrowbody, including a 100-jet deal with Air Arabia PJSC (AIRARABI.DFM) announced on Monday.

As of the end of October, when the formal data was available, Airbus had booked 542 net orders since the start of the year against Boeing's net tally of 45.

Write to Benjamin Katz at Ben.Katz@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 19, 2019 03:19 ET (08:19 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.