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By Tim Hepher and Ankit Ajmera
DUBAI, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Boeing's 737 MAX took
centre stage at the Dubai Airshow on Tuesday as the U.S.
planemaker prepared to announce orders for dozens of aircraft as
it seeks to restore confidence in the jet amid a worldwide
grounding, people familiar with the matter said.
Boeing was expected to announce the orders, which could be
worth $5-6 billion, a day after securing the first firm order
for the aircraft since the grounding from Turkey's SunExpress.
Global regulators banned commercial flights of Boeing's
fastest-selling jet in March after two fatal accidents.
Boeing is in the process of modifying software and pilot
training which will require regulatory approvals.
In other news, budget airline easyJet exercised the
purchase rights to order 12 more Airbus A320neo
aircraft, Airbus said on Tuesday.
Airbus is also prepared to unveil an order for 8 of its
small A220 jets from Air Senegal, delegates said.
Also coinciding with the show, leasing giant GECAS was
expected to confirm an order for 25 Airbus jets including 12
A330neo powered by engines from Rolls-Royce, a competitor
to GECAS parent company General Electric.
However, there were no immediate signs that Dubai's Emirates
was ready to finalise a provisional order for 40 Boeing 787
Dreamliners, part of a complex set of interlocking deals driving
fleet changes at the world's largest international airline.
The fate of the order hinges on negotiations over the larger
Boeing 777X for which Emirates is the largest customer. Emirates
has indicted it wants to restructure the order following delays
and sources say it could use the pending 787 deal as leverage.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher; editing by Shri Navaratnam and Jason
Neely)
