Asian airlines, particularly those in China and India as well as low-cost carriers in Southeast Asia, are expected to be among the early buyers of the B737 Max, the latest edition of the single-aisle jet that has drawn more than 9,000 orders since it entered service in 1984.
"As we look forward, we see the potential of hundreds more commitments (for the B737 Max) in months rather than years," said Randy Tinseth, vice-president for marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The B737 Max is the US planemaker's answer to the A320neo, the next generation of the Airbus A320, the European planemaker's best-selling aircraft which was first rolled out in 1988.
Boeing and Airbus have been competing head-on in the largest segment of the aircraft market _ the narrow-body jet _ where the B737 Max and A320neo belong.
Boeing forecasts global demand for 23,370 new aircraft in the segment over the next two decades at a value of US$1.95 trillion.
The demand for narrow-body aircraft represents 70% of the total of 33,500 new planes that airlines are expected to put into the skies in next 20 years, or 48% of the combined $4-trillion market value of all new aircraft purchased over that period.
Though the true dogfight is between Boeing and Airbus, which in the past decade or so split their market for narrow-body jets almost equally, there are other competitors as well. They include Canada-based Bombardier's C-Series, Brazil's Embraer 195s and the Chinese Comac C919.
Boeing has secured 496 orders for the B737 Max from five airlines since its Aug 30 launch. Airbus has booked orders for 1,245 A320neos in the nine months since it was launched.
As no more large orders for A320neos are foreseen in the short term, market watchers expect the B737 Max could catch its rival by the end of this year.
The B737 Max, Mr Tinseth said, would offer 16% lower fuel consumption than the current A320 and a 4% fuel-burn advantage over A320neo as well as a 7% operating cost benefit over the forthcoming Airbus.
Boeing is also claiming that the B737 Max would offer a 10-12% fuel burn improvement over today's 737NG (Next Generation).
The most visible difference on the B737 Max line will likely be the chevron-edged nacelles, first introduced in the mid-sized wide-body B787 Dreamliner and also found on the new B747-8, the next generation of the jumbo jet.
The B737 Max will come with one single engine type: the yet-to-be built Leap-1B from CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric and Snecma. On the other hand, the A320neo offers CFM's Leap-X as well as a Pratt and Whitney turbofan power plant, the PW1000G.
Boeing has scheduled the first B737 Max delivery in 2017, one year behind the A320neo's targeted roll-out.
Mr Tinseth said the date was conservative and that Boeing would like deliveries to happen earlier if possible.
"We will be very conservative with our schedules, we want to make sure we'll absolutely meet our commitment (in 2017)."
Both Boeing and Airbus faced delays with recent planes _ Boeing's B787 and B747-8, Airbus's A350 XWB and A380 superjumbo _ and have grown more cautious from delivery timeframes.
Boeing has yet to announce the price for B737 Max, but with the improvements, industry watchers said the updated aircraft would likely come at a premium over B737NG.
The name Max was adopted for the new B737 "because it optimises everything we and our customers have learned about designing, building, maintaining and operating the world's best single-aisle airplane", said Nicole Piasecki, vice-president of business development and strategic integration at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Boeing said carriers could continue to count on the strong reliability record of the 737 family, with on-time departure rates as high as 99.7%.
The 737 Max will offer passenger appeal through the new 737 Boeing Sky Interior, with spacious cabin headroom, overhead bins that disappear into the ceiling yet carry more bags, and LED lighting that can bring any colour into the cabin.
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