Workers work on the tail of a Boeing Dreamliner 787 on the production line at the company’s final assembly facility in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Travis Dove | Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
boeing The company announced Tuesday that it has reached a deal to sell 78 of its 787 Dreamliners to two Saudi Arabian airlines.
The jetliners will go to Saudi Arabian Airlines, or Saudia and a new airline called Riyadh Air, announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the weekend. Saudia has ordered 39 of his aircraft, with 10 more options, and Riyadh Air has ordered 39 of his two largest models, with 33 more options.
Boeing has not disclosed a delivery schedule for the aircraft.
“This supports the country’s goal of serving 330 million passengers and attracting 100 million visitors by 2030,” Riyadh Air said in a news release.
The sale marks a recovery in demand for wide-body aircraft, which are used for long-haul flights and fetch higher prices than the more common narrow-body jets.
Riyadh Air is owned by the country’s Sovereign Wealth Fund and will be led by longtime industry veteran Tony Douglas, former CEO of Etihad Airways.
in December, united airlines Air India has agreed to purchase at least 100 Dreamliners from Boeing and last month Air India placed an order for 460 Boeing and Airbus aircraft.
Boeing plans to resume deliveries of Dreamliner planes this week after a pause of several weeks due to data analysis issues it revealed last month.
Boeing stock rose nearly 2% in morning trading, slightly outperforming the broader market.