While the Trump administration on Thursday celebrated a 37-plane Boeing deal with Central Asia, the industry’s focus remains on a much larger, potentially historic order from China. The Commerce Department announced the sales to Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan at the C5+1 Summit in Washington, but this win is dwarfed by the 500-jet deal Boeing is reportedly negotiating.
The Central Asian deals are nonetheless significant for the region. Kazakhstan’s Air Astana plans to buy up to 15 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. Tajikistan’s Somon Air intends to acquire 14 aircraft (four 787s, ten 737 MAXs), and Uzbekistan Airways is set to purchase eight additional 787s. These 37 planes will be used for fleet modernization and expansion.
For the airlines, these acquisitions are a strategic move to modernize and expand. Air Astana, for instance, currently operates a modest wide-body fleet of three Boeing 767 jets. The new 787-9 Dreamliners are not just replacements; they are strategic assets that will allow the carrier to explore new, long-range destinations. Boeing specifically noted that these planes will enable Air Astana to launch services to North America.
The 37-plane deal was announced at the 10th-anniversary C5+1 Summit, a platform the Trump administration used to link its diplomatic engagement with U.S. manufacturing. This practice of announcing Boeing orders at diplomatic events has become a regular feature of the administration’s trade policy.
However, the context of the much larger, 500-jet China deal looms large. A successful negotiation with China would represent a massive breakthrough for Boeing in the world’s second-largest aviation market, especially given recent trade tensions. While the Central Asian deal is a solid win, the China deal remains the ultimate prize for the U.S. manufacturer this year.