Fiji Times Saturday 15 April 2017 A NEW version of Boeing Co’s (BA.N) 737 jetliner took off for the first time on Thursday, marking another step in Boeing’s revamp of its best-selling product line that could see up to five new models introduced by 2020.
Boeing’s 737 MAX 9, a fuel-efficient, long-range successor to the 737-900, made its initial flight, a test mission, about 50 years after the 737 first took to the skies on April 9, 1967, and follows the first flight of Boeing’s largest Dreamliner model, the 787-10, last month, from its factory in South Carolina.
The new models are coming to market just as demand for aircraft has slowed.
Boeing has committed to making four new 737 versions and is considering a bigger version than the MAX 9, known as the 737 MAX 10X.
