Boeing outsells Airbus at Paris Air Show

PARIS — Boeing flew past Airbus in the race for plane orders at this year’s Paris Air Show, thanks to a surge in interest in the newest version of the 737.

High interest from Asian and Iranian airlines notably boosted sales for both plane makers, dispelling some concerns of slumping demand.

Most of the sales were of single-aisle jets that are the workhorses of global aviation, particularly Boeing’s 737 Max series and Airbus A320neo line.

Boeing reported Thursday it registered firm orders or promised orders for 571 planes this week.

Airbus announced 326 orders or commitments.

Airbus won a late boost from two big orders from Iran, which is expanding its aviation industry after years of sanctions.

The 737 MAX 10 successfully launched in Paris was “clearly the star of the show,” Boeing vice president for marketing Randy Tinseth said.

At list prices, the Boeing sales haul in Paris added up to $75 billion. According to market pricing data from aircraft valuation firm Avitas, the real value, after standard industry discounts, would be about $35 billion.

However, given that many of the sales were launch orders for a new jet model, the discounts were probably even heftier, meaning even the $35 billion figure is high.

The Airbus sales were worth about $39 billion at list prices, with an Avitasestimated real value after standard discounts of $17 billion.

That said, air show commitments don’t always materialize to become actual purchases.

For commercial aircraft manufacturers other than the two giants of the industry, Paris was mostly a bust. Bombardier of Canada failed to land a single new order for its CSeries airliner. Likewise, Mitsubishi won no new orders for its MRJ regional jet. Embraer of Brazil fared a little better.