Boeing signs deal to sell 300 planes worth $37 bn to China

Boeing signed an agreement on Thursday to sell 300 planes to China Aviation Supplies Holding Company worth $37 billion at list prices — part of a slew of deals announced during US President Donald Trump's state visit to Beijing.

State-run China Aviation Supplies, which leases planes to Chinese airlines, said the order was for 260 B-737s as well as 40 B777s and B787s.

Analysts said, however, that some of the order may be among the more than 300 from undisclosed buyers posted this year and that it was not yet understood how much of the China deal would be entirely new business.

Boeing had 334 orders by unidentified customers as of October 24, of which 290 were for its 737 narrow body family.

Representatives for Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether the planes were new or existing orders.

Aircraft orders are also announced at list prices but buyers usually get discounts.

China Aviation Supplies has also played a prominent role in deals announced during previous government exchanges.

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IndiGo removes altitude restriction on the snag hit planes

Despite continuing teething problems, the largest operator of Airbus A320 neo, IndiGo has removed the altitude restriction on the snag hit planes. This is after the engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney informed the customer airlines that altitude restriction will not increase the durability of the air seal around the No 3 bearing compartment.

Footage from flight tracker website Flightradar24 showed that the other Indian airline A320 neo operator GoAir is still adhering to the altitude restriction and flying the neos at 30,000 feet.

In a notification to pilots, the airline said that from September 1, altitude restriction on Neo aircraft stands revoked.

“Commencing from September 1, planning of cruising flight levels will be as earlier on performance, environmental and other common factors irrespective of the engine type IAE, CFM or NEO up to Airbus limits as per flight command,” IndiGo wrote in the note which was reviewed by Business Standard.

Sources familiar with the situation said the altitude restriction did not serve any purpose of solving the problem with the No 3 bearing component which was resulting in glitch in the engine’s lubrication system. “Pratt and Whitney told us that flying at lower altitude is not a solution, while they are working on the solution, we will fly at normal altitude which will give us the best results in terms of fuel consumption,” an airline official aware of the developments said. Flying at lower altitude consumes more fuel which may negate the advantage of efficiency that the 1100G geared turbofan engines provide.
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