Boeing wins $8.8 billion aviation order on Asian demand

Boeing Co. won an order for 82 jets from BOC Aviation Pte valued at $8.8 billion in list prices as Asian aircraft leasing companies boost their fleet amid a surge in travel demand across the continent.

BOC Aviation ordered 50 737 Max 8 and 30 Next Generation 737-800 aircraft from Boeing, the lessor, a unit of Bank of China Ltd., said in an e-mailed statement today. The Singapore- based lessor also agreed to buy two 777 widebody aircraft. The single-aisle planes are for delivery between 2016 and 2021, BOC said in the statement.

BOC Aviation and SMBC Aviation Capital Ltd., the world's third-largest aircraft leasing company, are among Asian lessors buying new planes as economic growth across India, China and Southeast Asia enables more people to fly. Chicago-based Boeing has predicted the region will drive an increase in commercial aircraft sales to $5.2 trillion over the next 20 years as China overtakes the U.S. as the world's biggest aviation market.

"This is a continuation of our commitment to be responsive to airline customers which are expanding or replacing older fleets," Robert Martin, BOC Aviation's managing director, said in the statement.

Last month, BOC Aviation ordered 43 Airbus Group NV aircraft and the lessor is expected to have a record number of planes on its fleet this year. Japanese lessor SMBC Aviation said it will buy $11.8 billion of jets from Airbus. China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Ltd. has also said it plans to expand across the continent after becoming the first plane lessor in the region to go public last month.

Chinese Encouragement

China has said it will encourage lessors to look for opportunities overseas while Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. said earlier this month it submitted a preliminary proposal for some planes of Awas Aviation Capital Ltd.

Air travel demand in Asia is projected to expand 5.7 percent in the four years through 2017, the second-fastest pace in the world, with routes within or connected to China being the single largest driver, according to an International Air Transport Association's study last year.

Airlines globally will buy aircraft worth $4.4 trillion in the next two decades as more Indians and Chinese fly, Airbus said last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kyunghee Park in Singapore at kpark3bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anand Krishnamoorthy at anandkbloomberg.net