ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Boeing sees strong demand for its 737-family jets over and above its existing plans to increase production by 12 percent by 2017 but would only revise up its goals if they can be sustained, a senior executive said on Monday.
"Today we are building 42 airplanes a month and plan to go to 47 in 2017. We see very strong demand after that; in fact we see upward pressure in rates," said Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
"We don't make those decisions unless the demand is real, we know we can deliver the airplanes and we believe we can operate at that higher rate for a substantial period of time in order for us to recognize the benefits of the higher rate as well as our supply chain," he added.
Tinseth was speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the Istat Europe aviation conference in Istanbul after a senior Airbus executive warned against raising output in the hope of selling more jets and vowed not to chase after marginal deals.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher; editing by Jason Neely)