Boeing expects to win around 200 orders for the firm’s 737 MAX plane in China this year, Bloomberg reported. “We’re out talking to every single airline in China about the 737 MAX,” said Jim Albaugh, the company’s commercial aircraft chief. He said that orders for the plane may reach “a couple hundred,” as well as “quite a number” of 747-8s. Boeing must compete for orders with the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China’s C919 plane, which has garnered about 225 orders so far. Single-aisle planes like the C919 and 737 MAX will probably account for 71% of the 5,000 new planes Chinese airlines are expected to order before 2030, according to Boeing. Albaugh said that COMAC will be “a tough competitor” in coming years, but Boeing has plans to set up a jointly-funded research center with the firm in Beijing to develop fuel-efficient technologies.
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