Boeing plans to increase it production rates at the Renton plant come early 2012.

“With over 5,200 sold to date, the Next-Generation 737 is the workhorse in our customers’ fleets around the world,” said Jim Albaugh, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO in a press release.

Today the plant produces about 31.5 airplanes per month. It plans to increase that rate to 34 airplanes to meet demand.

The Next-Generation 737 airplane has about 2,000 unfilled orders from about 80 customers from around the world.

The Next-Generation is the most advanced version of the model.

“Even through the global economic downturn, our diverse 737 backlog has remained very strong,” Albaugh said. “Increasing the 737 production rate is the right thing to do to meet the growth and fleet replacement needs of our customers.”

The announcement isn’t expected to impact the 2010 financial results.

The 737 planes take their first flight from the Renton Municipal Airport.