United States aircraft manufacturer Boeing is considering increasing production of its 737 model to meet increasing demand.

The Chicago-based giant will produce 38 of the planes per month from the second quarter of 2013, with Boeing now considering pushing this up to 42.

James Bell, Boeing chief financial officer, said the company was looking at its production capacity and would also assess customers’ fleet needs.

“We will take all that into consideration and just see after we get to the 38 if 42 or beyond is appropriate,” he explained.

Boeing said in September it would increase production of the narrow-body plane to 38 per month in the second quarter of 2013.

Bell went on to add Boeing was still deciding whether to redesign its 737 or put a new engine on the current model to deliver greater fuel efficiency.

El Al

Illustrating demand, Boeing today confirmed Israeli national carrier El Al had ordered to order four Next-Generation 737-900ERs.

The deal is valued at approximately $343.2 million at current list prices.

Elyezer Shkedy, chief executive officer at EL AL, said: “These additional airplanes will help us expand our fleet to meet the growing demand from our customers.

“We will use the Boeing 737-900ERs to replace the current fleet of 757-200s and to serve the growing markets in our network.

“The 737 family of aircraft provide outstanding performance and the lowest in the industry operating costs per seat mile.”

EL AL operates 41 routes to 27 countries with its current fleet of 40 Boeing aircraft.