Boeing is talking to Oman Air and budget carrier flydubai as potential customers for its revamped 737 MAX jetliner, company executives said Saturday. Speaking on the eve of the Dubai Air Show, Boeing officials said demand in the Middle East remained robust despite unease over the economy as airlines seek to reduce operating costs by buying fuel-efficient aircraft. “We are talking to flydubai and Oman Air about the 737 MAX. We have had a lot of detailed discussions with flydubai, which is part of the normal process of getting a customer's input into development,” Marty Bentrott, senior vice-president for international sales, told a news conference. Boeing is fitting its best-selling 737 medium-haul jet with new engines to reduce fuel consumption and compete with a hot-selling version of the competing Airbus model called the A320neo. It is also showing off its new 787 Dreamliner for the first time at the biennial show after the fuel-saving carbon-fibre passenger jet went into service in Japan earlier this month. Boeing said Qatar Airways, whose chief executive Akbar Al Baker said a year ago the project had “failed” due to a three-year production delay, would get its first 787 in mid-2012. Oman Air could also clarify an order for 787 Dreamliners at the Nov 13-17 air show. The sultanate's flag carrier last year signed a draft deal to acquire six 787s by leasing them through Kuwait's Alafco but has been seeking compensation for the delays. “They may come out with something in the next few days,” Bentrott told Reuters, speaking of Oman's interest in the 787.
