UTC beats profit estimates on airplane boom, lifts forecast

(Reuters) - United Technologies Corp reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its full-year profit forecast on Tuesday as it benefited from higher sales of aircraft parts, driven by record production at planemakers Boeing and Airbus.

A boom in air travel on the back of an improving global economy has boosted profits at major suppliers United Tech and Honeywell.

United Tech said sales in its Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines business jumped about 24 percent to $4.79 billion in the third quarter ended Sept. 30.

Revenue at the company's aerospace systems unit, which provides spare parts, overhaul and repair services to airlines, increased 8.7 percent to $3.96 billion.

The maker of Carrier air conditioners and Otis elevators also raised its 2018 adjusted profit forecast for the third time to a range of $7.20 and $7.30, up from $7.10 and $7.25, previously.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.93 per share, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.81 per share, according to Refinitiv.

Net sales rose 9.6 percent to $16.51 billion.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)