Lessor AerCap Orders 100 Boeing 737 Max Jets

By Jon Ostrower

LE BOURGET, France--Boeing Co. (BA) Tuesday won an order for 100 single-aisle 737 Max jetliners from lessor AerCap Holdings N.V. (AER), the largest order by volume at the Paris Air Show.

The deal for the updated Boeing single-aisle jetliner is worth at much as $10.7 billion, though customers typically receive steep discounts. The AerCap purchase is the largest announced by volume so far by any aircraft maker at the industry event.

Collaboration between Boeing and AerCap on the order pre-dates AerCap's acquisition of the International Lease Finance Corp. aircraft portfolio that made it the world's largest independent lessor. ILFC had been one of the largest lessors to not have ordered the new Boeing single-aisle.

"This is something that we've been working on for a long time," said Aengus Kelly, Chief Executive of AerCap.

The more fuel-efficient 737 Max is slated to enter service with Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) in the third quarter of 2017. The lessor said deliveries of its aircraft, the 162-seat 737-8, begin in 2019.

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