WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) – Boeing Co has secured a deal worth at least $2.5 billion at list prices to sell 21 of its 737 MAX jets to Japan Airlines Co (JAL), industry sources said.
The deal will be announced on Thursday, they added, after talks to renew the narrow-body fleet emerged earlier this month.
Boeing declined comment. A spokesperson for JAL reiterated it was “considering this matter,” but declined further comment.
The deal is slated to be the first order for the 737 MAX placed by JAL, which predominantly owns Boeing aircraft and has operated the 737-800 as its main narrowbody plane. It follows an order from All Nippon Airways for 20 MAX jets that was finalized in July after a two year delay following the 737 MAX safety crisis.
Boeing has historically dominated sales to the Japanese market. However, Airbus has made inroads over the last decade – most visibly through a 2013 order by JAL for widebody A350 jets, made as Boeing struggled to fix a battery problem with its 787 Dreamliner.
With Airbus single-aisle A320s in use by ANA’s Peach unit and JAL’s Jetstar Japan, Boeing strove to ensure that the MAX secured a foothold in the mainline fleet of Japan’s national carrier.
(Reporting by Valerie Insinna, David Shepardson, Tim Hepher, Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Toby Chopra and Marguerita Choy)
