Malaysia Airline, Boeing Announce a Deal for 50 737 Boeing MAX Aircraft

   By Yantoultra Ngui 
 

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia--Malaysia Airlines Bhd. has signed a deal with Boeing to buy upto 50 Boeing 737 MAX jets as part of its plan to achieve lower costs and greater efficiency, as it looks to recover from the catastrophic loss of two jetliners in 2014.

The deal, comprises firm orders for 25 jets and the option to purchase 25 more. The deal is valued at $5.5 billion at current list prices, though customers typically extract discounts of upto 30% on the published rates.

Deliveries are slated to begin in 2019, according to a press statement by Malaysia Airlines on Wednesday.

"This deal is a game changer for Malaysia Airlines with much lower costs and greater efficiency which we will pass on to our loyal customers with lower fares," the carrier's group managing director and chief executive, Peter Bellew said.

The announcement comes one month after Malaysia Airlines promoted Bellew from Chief Operating Officer, to head the carrier. Bellew was appointed after the airline's group managing director and CEO, Christoph Mueller announced his decision to step down.

Malaysia Airlines, which is wholly owned by Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, currently operates 56 737-800 planes. The airline will take delivery of a mix of 737 MAX 9 and 737 MAX 8 aircrafts, the statement said.

Write to Yantoultra Ngui at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 27, 2016 02:25 ET (06:25 GMT)

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