CHICAGO, May 17 (Reuters) - Boeing Co said it would boost production of its narrow-body 737 model to 34 aircraft per month, citing strong demand from airlines as they rebound from a steep downturn in 2008 and 2009.
The increase from 31.5 per month is set to begin in early 2012, the world's No. 2 plane-maker said in a statement.
In March, Chicago-based Boeing said it would speed up planned output rates for two of its popular wide-body aircraft as demand resumed among airline customers who cut back during the economic downturn.
'Even through the global economic downturn, our diverse 737 backlog has remained very strong,' said Jim Albaugh, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes in a statement.
'Increasing the 737 production rate is the right thing to do to meet the growth and fleet replacement needs of our customers,' he said.
Boeing said it has more than 2,000 unfilled orders for the plane from 80 customers around the world.
The shares of Boeing, a Dow component, were up 0.3 percent in after hours trading.
(Reporting by Kyle Peterson; editing by Andre Grenon) Keywords: BOEING/ (kyle.peterson@thomsonreuters.com ; +1 312 408 8581; Reuters Messaging: kyle.peterson.reuters.com@reuters.net ) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The increase from 31.5 per month is set to begin in early 2012, the world's No. 2 plane-maker said in a statement.
In March, Chicago-based Boeing said it would speed up planned output rates for two of its popular wide-body aircraft as demand resumed among airline customers who cut back during the economic downturn.
'Even through the global economic downturn, our diverse 737 backlog has remained very strong,' said Jim Albaugh, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes in a statement.
'Increasing the 737 production rate is the right thing to do to meet the growth and fleet replacement needs of our customers,' he said.
Boeing said it has more than 2,000 unfilled orders for the plane from 80 customers around the world.
The shares of Boeing, a Dow component, were up 0.3 percent in after hours trading.
(Reporting by Kyle Peterson; editing by Andre Grenon) Keywords: BOEING/ (kyle.peterson@thomsonreuters.com ; +1 312 408 8581; Reuters Messaging: kyle.peterson.reuters.com@reuters.net ) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.