Boeing hits 737 Max output target

Gets 303 new orders in blockbuster May

- DAN CATCHPOLE

Boeing heads into the Paris Air Show after a blockbuster May that included booking 303 new orders and rolling out 38 new 737 Max jets, a production rate it has been working to reach for more than a year. The company also delivered 45 aircraft last month, it said Tuesday.

It was the sixth-highest monthly order tally in Boeing's history, according to company data.

The orders included the largest widebody jet deal in Boeing’s history: Qatar Airways’ order for 130 787s and 30 777Xs, plus options for another 50 of the long-haul aircraft.

Only 120 of the 787s were booked in May. The other 10 had been ordered by Qatar in March, but the customer was unidentified in Boeing's order backlog before Tuesday.

The Qatar order was announced among a string of high-profile US business deals during President Donald Trump's Middle East tour. A day earlier, Saudi Arabian-owned AviLease ordered 20 737-8 Max jets.

Another Gulf region carrier, Etihad, said it planned to order 28 widebody Boeing jets. It did not place a firm order, so the aircraft were not included in May’s total.