Boeing Co. said it's working "very hard" to secure an order from ANA Holdings Co. after its decadeslong dominance in Japan was challenged last year by a $9.5 billion aircraft deal for Airbus.
"There's a campaign, and we are busy working very hard to win the battle," Ihssane Mounir, Boeing's senior vice president for sales and marketing for Northeast Asia, said in an interview in Singapore Tuesday.
ANA, whose fleet is dominated by Boeing aircraft, said last year it's close to a decision on an order for 25 jets, pitting the newest wide-body models of Airbus and the U.S. plane maker against each other. The deal is significant because Japan Airlines Co. last year bought Airbus planes for the first time, gaining a foothold in a market that Boeing has dominated as a near monopoly since World War II.