Boeing said on Wednesday that airlines keen to lock in deliveries of its new 7E7 Dreamliner were paying deposits to the US aircraft maker, which aims to land USD$25 billion in firm orders for the jet this year.

Boeing has made no final sale of a 7E7 yet, but four airlines have announced their intention to buy and a total of 24 have put money down.

As the Farnborough air show near London looms next week, speculation is rife that the unnamed carriers will go public.

That will be up to individual airlines, Randy Baseler, vice president for marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, told reporters on Wednesday.

He declined to identify the airlines but said deposits were rolling in as Boeing works toward final orders.

"That holds a delivery slot... that's why you have a number of them putting money down," he said.

Chicago-based Boeing reiterated last week that it expects about 200 firm orders this year for the plane, which is due to enter service in 2008. The plane has a list price of about USD$125 million.

Baseler said firm orders were expected to enter Boeing's books in coming months.

"Late summer, early fall, we'll see All Nippon and maybe Air New Zealand go in," he said.

Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) was the first to commit to the 7E7 with a tentative deal for 50, the biggest launch order for an airliner in Boeing's history.

Air New Zealand, British travel firm First Choice Holidays and Italian charter airline Blue Panorama have signed tentative deals for 12 more.

The twin-engined 7E7 will succeed the Boeing 757 and 767 and compete with European rival Airbus's A330.

Expected to seat from 217 to about 360 passengers, it is being designed to deliver lower fuel and operating costs to money-conscious airlines under pressure from surging low-fare carriers.

Airbus is also aiming for cheaper costs but on a far larger scale, with the 555-seat, four-engined A380 due in 2006.

(Reuters)