Boeing landed an $18.6b deal with Qatar Airways for as many as 100 aircraft, providing a sales boost to the US company’s upgraded 737 jetliner with one of the year’s largest commercial airplane deals. The carrier pledged to buy as many as 60 of the 737 Max 8 jet, valued at $6.9b at list prices, marking its first narrow-body order with Boeing since 1979. Qatar Airways also ordered 40 total 777 and 787 Dreamliner twin-aisle aircraft, Akbar Al Baker, the airline’s chief executive officer, and Boeing commercial airplane CEO Ray Conner said Friday. With the commitment, Al Baker made good on earlier threats to buy Boeing’s 737 Max after rejecting initial A320neo deliveries from Airbus Group SE because of engine issues. The transaction also provided a vote of confidence in the Boeing jet, which is on pace to begin commercial service months ahead of schedule in Q2 next year. Qatar Airways will take its first Max in 2018, Al Baker said in an interview. He insisted the decision to pivot to the rival Boeing model wasn’t intended as retaliation against the European planemaker. “There is no message to Airbus,” he said. “We don’t send messages by aircraft purchases to each other.”<br/>
unaligned
Norwegian Air Shuttle plans to establish Buenos Aires as a hub in South America as expansion across the Americas may see round-trip ticket prices across the North Atlantic fall to $150. The discount carrier may start connecting Buenos Aires with Oslo, London and Paris in as early as 12 months once government permissions have been granted, CEO Bjorn Kjos said. Services to Madrid and Barcelona are also possible. He added that domestic flights from Cordoba are also possible and he was speaking with authorities in the Chilean capital of Santiago about possible routes. Connecting cities on Europe’s Atlantic coast, including Edinburgh, with smaller US airports on that country’s east coast, such as New York’s White Plains airfield or Stewart airport, will mean customers will be able to fly across the Atlantic paying less than $150 round trip starting next year, Kjos said. Prices for international service to and from Argentina may fall to one-quarter of what airlines now charge, he said. The carrier is still awaiting permission from the U.S. Department of Transportation for permission to use its Irish subsidiary, Norwegian Air International, for transatlantic flights and has also applied for such rights for its Norwegian UK unit. It does not depend on these permissions to begin serving South America, Kjos said.<br/>
An Indian airline has announced it will be introducing child-free zones on its flights, in a move that’s proving to be very controversial. Budget airline IndiGo said it will be introducing Quiet Zones for business travellers and passengers under 12 years of age are banned from sitting in these areas. Understandably, the move has warranted a mixed reaction from travellers, with some saying they would “gladly pay extra” for seats and others calling it “dumb”. “Keeping in mind the comfort and convenience of all passengers, row numbers 1-4 and 11-14 are generally kept as a Quiet Zone on IndiGo flights. These zones have been created for business travellers who prefer to use the quiet time to do their work,” the airline said. IndiGo also specified that children are not allowed to sit in rows where the emergency exits are found, as well as where there is extra legroom. <br/>