San Francisco: US aerospace giant Boeing has signed a contract valued at $7 billion to supply 12 of its 787 Dreamliner aircraft to Gulf Air, with options for six additional jets. The agreement, announced Thursday, comes as the Bahrain-based airline seeks to expand its global reach and modernise its fleet.

Gulf Air’s fleet today consists of 43 Airbus and Boeing jets: eight A320-200, seven A320neo with five on order, four A321-200, six A321neo with three on order, eight A321LR, and 10 787-9, with orders currently up to 20 units. A pair of Rolls-Royce-powered Boeing 787 are due in 2026 and 2027 before the jets from today’s order arrive.

This agreement comes after an Air India 787 crash, but Gulf Air emphasizes the aircraft's reliability and sustainability.

The two engines on the Air India flight shut down within one second of each other before the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed last month in Ahmedabad, India, killing at least 260 people, according to a preliminary report released Friday.

International airlines from South Korea and India are preparing to inspect its Boeing fleets following findings from the Air India crash investigation.

(Reuters) -A cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the Air India flight that crashed last month indicates the captain cut the flow of fuel to the Boeing 787 jet's engines, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Cockpit audio from Air India flight indicates fuel supply may have been cut off by the captain, according to the WSJ. The pilots' body rejected the claim.

A US-based aviation attorney exclusively told FinancialExpress.com that in 2019, a Boeing 787 aircraft experienced a fuel switch cut-off, adding that the pilots flying the ANA flight - Japan’s largest airline - didn't initiate it.