Monarch går for Boeing

Boeing captures UK's Monarch after jet contest -sources


LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) - Boeing is poised to win a $3 billion jet order from UK carrier Monarch Airlines, ousting its European rival Airbus for a key victory two weeks before the Farnborough Airshow, industry sources said on Tuesday.

The expected order for some 30 revamped 737 aircraft follows a contest lasting several months as the Luton-based carrier became the latest hotspot in a global battle for market share between two popular types of narrowbody jets.

Most industry sources had expected Airbus to win the contest, which had been watched as a gauge of competition.

Emerging less than two weeks before the world's largest aerospace event, it will be seen as a blow to Airbus, which had displaced its U.S. rival Boeing in an earlier fleet overhaul at one of Europe's oldest leisure airlines.

But it could also rekindle concerns about a potential price war between the largest planemakers to try to win the advantage on models that have already sold many times more than their designers originally hoped.

"Both Airbus and Boeing have huge pricing power, which could drive up aircraft values if it weren't for their ongoing battle for market share," said Bert van Leeuwen, a managing director of Germany's DVB Bank, on the sidelines of an industry conference.