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QATAR Airways has purchased 160 Boeing airplanes during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Qatar on Wednesday (05/14/2025). The order breaks the record for Boeing’s largest purchase of large airplanes.
“This is Boeing’s largest large airplane order and the largest 787 order ever,” the White House said in a statement.
The purchase was one of several deals discussed as Trump met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. According to AFP, Qatar Airways will buy 130 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 30 Boeing 777-9s. There are also options for 50 additional 787 and 777X airplanes, according to a Boeing press release.
“We are honored that Qatar Airways has placed this record-breaking order with Boeing, which will strengthen their future fleet,” said Stephanie Pope, head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
However, analysts say the plane will not be delivered for at least five years due to production delays in the industry. Both Boeing and rival Airbus have experienced production delays due to problems in their supply chains.
On the other hand, airlines continue to increase orders for planes as demand for air travel grows. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg joined Trump at the signing ceremony. In addition to the Boeing planes, Trump and Al-Thani signed off on the purchase of MQ-9B drones.
“It’s over 200 billion, but 160 of them are jets. That’s fantastic. So that’s a record. That’s the largest jet order in the history of Boeing. That’s pretty good,” Trump said.
Qatar is the second country on Trump’s list of stops in the Middle East this week, after he visited Saudi Arabia.
Relations between Washington and Doha have been in the spotlight because Qatar offered Trump a US$400 million luxury jet to serve as the new U.S. presidential plane, or Air Force One, and then could be used for his personal needs. Since 2016, Boeing has received 118 orders from Qatar Airways and delivered 65 planes to the airline, according to Boeing’s website.
Morningstar analyst Nicolas Owens said the orders are good news for Boeing. However, Owens noted that it could be years before Boeing sees revenue from Qatar’s jumbo order.
“If you order an airplane today, it won’t be on the runway for at least five years,” Owens said.
Owens said the announcement was also a vote of confidence in the long-delayed 777X, which has yet to be certified and Boeing plans its first delivery in 2026. [sources/photo special]
