Deal said Boeing had been in talks with the airline since its early days when the carrier chose the 737 as its first aircraft, but the manufacturer still had to “fight hard” to win the deal over Airbus.

He added he was delighted the airline had also signed a letter of intent with Boeing for the Dreamliner and that it was a signal the newcomer had ambitions to connect with international, long-haul destinations.

“The business model that Greater Bay Airlines represented, any time we work with an airline, they tend to want to share with us their future plans. This is a plan we believe in. We worked extra hard then to be their preferred choice and we prevailed in that competition,” Deal said.

Airbus dominates the city’s market, with Hong Kong Airlines’ fleet alone made up of 30 of its aircraft.

Cathay Pacific Airways operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing planes and its budget arm is made up of Airbus planes.

Airbus has also won a string of orders in mainland China.

Xiamen Airlines switched its entire fleet from Boeing to Airbus after it ordered 40 of the A320neo narrow-body aircraft last year.

The mainland last year also certified its home-grown narrow-body C919, designed to compete with Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’ A320.

Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Airlines to expand aircraft fleet ‘to 22 planes by 2027’

The aircraft is made by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China. The first aircraft was delivered to China Eastern Airlines last December.

But Deal dismissed talk that Boeing had fallen behind its rivals and insisted he welcomed competition.

“We love the competition. Candidly, competition makes us great. It’s terrific to see the C919 now certified, and we compete every day against Airbus,” he said.

Deal added the order from Greater Bay Airlines was in addition to the 14 Boeing 737 MAX planes already flying on the mainland.

The manufacturer paused deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner jets last week after it resumed supply last August after a year-long break to tackle a documentation problem raised by the United States Federal Aviation Administration.

The Boeing 737 MAX returned to service on the mainland in January after being grounded in the country for nearly four years in the wake of deadly crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

Hong Kong lifted its ban on carriers flying the jet in its airspace and to its airport in January last year.

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Deal said the aircraft was safe, had “millions of flight hours” and “showed reliability, wide acceptance by the consumer”.

He added that an order of 21 777-9 aircraft for Cathay Pacific, expected to arrive last year but delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic, would be delivered in 2025.

“That will be the flagship of international long haul for Cathay Pacific and as they tender new competitive offers, we’re going to be right there to compete for Cathay’s business,” he said.

Deal predicted that, although Hong Kong had been “hit quite hard” by the Covid-19 pandemic, he expected it to recover.

He said Boeing’s estimate of market recovery was between next year and 2025.

Deal said the city was “always a focus market”.

“We like to serve customers around the globe, and Hong Kong is no exception,” he said.