Boeing in talks for new 737 Max

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing said it was in talks with at least two Indian carriers for selling its Super Max 737 jets. At the India Aviation show here, Dinesh Keskar, senior vice-president, sales, for Boeing in the Asia-Pacific and India, said Air India and Jet Airways had shown interest in the new aircraft.

Boeing on Wednesday had announced the signing of a $4.4-bn contract for selling 42 Super Max jets to SpiceJet.

On India’s sluggish macroeconomic environment as well as issues such as customs duty on imports affecting the business aviation sector, Poncins expressed hope after the 2014 elections, the new government would look into these issues and bring about a flexible taxation regime. “While the US has about 6,000 business jets, India has only 200. Countries such as China and Russia have flexible tax systems. We believe India will follow that trend.”