Boeing locks in biggest plane order ever

Boeing Company has locked in its biggest order ever with a little-known airline halfway around the world.

The Chicago airplane manufacturer said on Tuesday that it has finalised an order from Indonesian carrier Lion Air for 230 planes, worth a combined US$22.4 billion.

The deal is the largest commercial airplane order ever for Boeing by both dollar value and number of airplanes.

Lion Air also has the rights to buy 150 more.

The order includes 201 of Boeing's redesigned 737, which it calls the Max, and 29 extended range 737-900s. Lion Air plans to pay for the planes over 12 years with bank financing. A Boeing spokeswoman did not immediately return an email seeking more details.

Until the deal was confirmed, Boeing's biggest firm order was from Southwest Airlines Company for 208 planes valued at US$19 billion at list prices.

Airlines commonly get discounts. Southwest will be the first customer to get the 737 Max, which is still in testing. It's scheduled for delivery in 2017.

Securing the Lion Air order is a big win for Boeing because it was considered something of a long shot when it was first announced in November.

The order will more than quadruple the current fleet at Lion Air, who has had a long history of safety concerns.

In 2004, a Lion Air MD-82 crash-landed, killing 25 people. There have also been a number of other incidents, including hard landings and overshooting runways, some causing injuries and damage to planes.

In 2007, the European Union banned all of Indonesia's 50 airlines from landing on its runways for two years. And since September, three Lion Air pilots have been arrested after testing positive for illegal drugs.

The arrests raised fresh concerns over the safety of aviation in Indonesia, where it is a main mode of travel across the nation of 17,000 islands.

Dozens of airlines have emerged in Indonesia since it deregulated its aviation industry in the 1990s, and the market is growing rapidly. Boeing thinks that demand in the Asia-Pacific region will grow more than in any other part of the world over the next two decades.

Lion Air was started by a travel agent and his brother, who pooled US$850,000 to launch the carrier in 1999.

It is Indonesia's largest private airline but is small compared to most US carriers. With a fleet of 76 planes, it's about double the size of Spirit Airlines or Allegiant Travel Company, according to Airfleets.net. But it's just one-tenth the size of United Continental, the world's largest airline company.

- AP