Copa buys 22 Boeing 737-800s

Copa buys 22 Boeing 737-800s    Panama's Copa Airlines on Monday signed a $1.7 billion contract with Boeing to purchase 22 B737-800 planes.
   The deal also included an option for Copa to buy 10 additional planes.
   'It is a good deal for the thousands of people in the U.S. who make the parts and assemble the airplanes and the people in Panama who operate the airlines,' said U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, in a statement 'As we continue to grow our economy in the U.S., sales likes these will help us reach President Obama's National Export Initiative goal of doubling exports by 2015 and creating several million new jobs.'
   With this sale, Copa has now purchased 55 planes from Boeing for delivery in the next four years. The U.S. aerospace industry, which supports more than 1.5 million workers, has produced a trade surplus of $31.7 billion in the first 9 months of 2010, one of the largest among manufacturing sectors, according to the Commerce Department.
   Overall bilateral trade between the United States and Panama so far this year reached $4.6 billion through September.