Jet to add 75 more Boeing 737s

Jet Airways said on Wednesday that it had finalised a deal for 75 narrow-body Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The deal is estimated to be worth about $8.8 billion.

The airline had earlier finalised an order for 75 Boeing 737 MAX planes and Wednesday’s announcement takes the total order to 150.

The current listing price of a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft is $117.1 million, according to the Boeing website.

Based on this rate, the cost of 75 such planes would be about $8.8 billion. Boeing had earlier said that it was likely to commence delivery of its 737 MAX aircraft to its Indian customers, Jet Airways and SpiceJet, in the third quarter of this fiscal.

“Our new order for the additional 75 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft will allow us to deliver a differentiated and world-class customer experience to our guests,” Jet Airways said, quoting its CEO Vinay Dube.

The airline has a fleet of 120 aircraft, comprising Boeing 777-300, Airbus A330s, Boeing 737s and ATR 72s.

Meanwhile, Tata-Singapore Airline joint venture carrier Vistara on Wednesday inducted its twentieth aircraft, an Airbus A320neo, making it eligible to fly on international routes. The 0/20 rule mandates an airline to have at least 20 aircraft in its fleet before being allowed to fly international.

Increased frequency

“Vistara completes its initial aircraft order as planned at the early stages of setting up the airline. Vistara will use the new aircraft to increase frequencies on existing routes to scale up operations in the domestic market, while gearing up to start international operations soon,” said an official statement. It added that two more A320neo would be inducted by June 2018 enabling the airline to fly overseas. Vistara CEO Leslie Thng had said earlier this year that the airline planned to start international operations with flights to the Gulf and South-East Asian regions in the second half of 2018.