The orders are from Jet Airways, Air India and Spicejet, Boeing India president Dinesh Keskar said, adding the company has an order backlog for 110 aircraft to be delivered over four-to-five years.
Indian carriers have orders worth $40 billion in the pipeline, as an economy growing at nearly 9 percent is spurring business travel and the middle class, long accustomed to traveling by rail, is now increasingly opting for air.
“The need is great for new airplanes that can efficiently and profitably fly short and long-haul routes. The demand is driven by growth in developing and emerging cities, demand from low cost carriers and the need to replace an ageing fleet,” Keskar said.
India’s commercial airplane market will reach $150 billion over the next 20 years, Boeing had said on Wednesday, as a burgeoning middle class is expected to drive demand in Asia’s third-largest economy.
Keskar also said Boeing expects to deliver its first of 27 Dreamliners to Air India by the end of the year.
In February, Boeing said it would deliver the first 787 Dreamliner aircraft to the state-run Indian carrier in the fourth quarter of 2011, a delay from its prior delivery estimate of April 2011.
