The American aircraft manufacturer Boeing has announced nearing an agreement with Qatar Airways for the purchase of a fleet of wide-body airplanes.
Boeing has revealed that they are close to reaching a large sales deal with Qatar Airways, after the recent US approval of Boeing F-15 fighter jet sales to the Gulf nation. If the sale goes through, Qatar Airways will be adding at least 30 Boeing 777 and 787 wide-body jets to their fleet.
The sale is estimated at $6.7 billion, and could help the Chicago-based plane manufacturer rebound from a drop in wide-body planes sales they witnessed this year.
The order was originally placed in July, at the Farnborough airshow, but was delayed by the Qatari government to push for the US approval of 36 Boeing F-15 fighter jets, which was completed last Wednesday.
The airline also announced that they were looking into buying 30 Boeing 737 narrow-body planes last July, which was followed by a statement from the company’s CEO Akbar Al Baker in August, through which he revealed plans of expanding their route network.
Earlier this year, the Qatari air travel service had declined to receive an order of A320neo’s from the French Airbus because of engine cooling issues, and have since said that they are looking for alternative planes to meet their demands.
In recent years, Qatar Airways have been growing exponentially, not only by fleet size, but also by adding more travel destinations to their already large network.
Earlier this week, Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, welcomed the first Qatar Airways flight to arrive at their international airport, directly from Doha. Same day the airline announced a partnership with International Airlines Group, the parent company of British Airways, to offer travelers a shared network of 70 destinations.
