Trump touts 'record' Boeing-Qatar Airways deal

Qatar Airways has agreed to buy up to 210 jets from American manufacturing giant Boeing, according to US President Donald Trump, who announced the $96bn (£72.4bn) order as part of his tour of the Middle East.

The White House said the deal would support 154,000 jobs in the US each year of production and marked the largest-ever order of 787 Dreamliners, a wide-body jet used for longer flights.

Qatar Airways and Boeing later confirmed the agreement.

It is the second deal involving Boeing to be announced as part of Trump's trip, marking a win for the company as it tries to rebuild its business after a series of manufacturing and safety issues.

The blow-out of a panel on one of its planes in January 2024 forced a dramatic slowdown in its manufacturing operations and sparked a more than $10bn loss last year.

But shares in the company, which was also hurt by a seven-week strike by some of its workers, have climbed roughly 20% since January, an indication of increased optimism about the firm's prospects.

Boss Kelly Ortberg told investors in April that the firm's recovery plan was in "full swing" after the firm delivered a greater-than-expected 130 aircraft in the first three months of the year.

Executives said the firm still had a backlog of 5,600 planes, amounting to more than seven years of production.

The Qatar Airways deal, which includes 130 Dreamliners, 30 777-9s and the option for 50 other planes, was part of more than $240bn in "economic deals" between the US and Qatar that the White House announced as part of the trip.

It would deepen a longstanding relationship between Boeing and the state-owned airline, which already had 150 Boeing airplanes in its fleet and more than 130 jets on order, according to Boeing's website.

"It's the largest order of jets in the history of Boeing, that's good," Trump said at the signing "So that's a record, Kelly, and congratulations to Boeing. Get those planes out there, get them out there."

As part of Trump's trip, Boeing had previously announced it had won a commitment from Saudia Arabia's Avilease, which leases planes to airlines, to buy 20 737 MAX planes, with options for 10 more.

British Airways owner IAG also said earlier this month that it had placed an order for 32 787-10 aircraft worth $13bn, a deal Trump previewed as part of his US-UK trade announcement. Those are set to start being delivered in 2028.

The trade truce between the US and China has also helped to ease a challenge for the firm, whose customers in China had stopped accepting planes as tariffs escalated.

Richard Aboulafia, managing director of US-based consultancy firm Aerodynamic Advisory, said the timing of the Qatar Airways order was "politically savvy" and a "nice win" for Boeing.

However, he added: "It doesn't indicate an accelerated need for aircraft or that Boeing has won any battle," noting that airlines often make orders for delivery dates far into the future.

Boeing's problems in recent years have stemmed from the difficulty it has had meeting delivery deadlines - not a fall in demand.

"You can add more jets to the backlog - thank you Qatar Airways - but the problem for some time now, and it will continue to be a problem, is on the production side," he said. "They need to build more planes."

John Grant of aviation analytics firm OAG said the Qatar Airways deal was "an important statement for Boeing in terms of re-establishing" itself in the market, but that it was not a surprising development, given the relationship between the two firms.