Miami private equity company 777 Partners has ordered 24 Boeing 737 Max 8s and taken options to buy a further 60 of the type, adding fresh momentum to the narrowbody’s backlog.
Boeing disclosed the order on 12 March, saying 777 Partners intends to lease the jets to “its affiliated operating low-cost carriers”.
Boeing does not specify which airline or airlines will operate the aircraft and does not disclose delivery dates.
Boeing nor 777 Partners responded to requests for more details.
However, 777 Partners owns 25% of Canadian discount carrier Flair Airlines.
In January, Flair disclosed that 777 Partners had “recently entered an agreement” with Boeing that included options and orders for the same number of Max jets.
Flair said it intended to lease 13 of the jets from 777 Partners and to receive them beginning in “early 2021”.
“This is a significant order that speaks to 777 Partners’ belief in the 737-8 and the market recovery ahead,” says Boeing senior vice-president of commercial sales and marketing Ihssane Mounir.
777 Partners’ managing partner Joshua Wander calls the 737-8 a “fantastic addition” to its portfolio and cites the type’s “superior economic performance”.
“The retrenchment of traditional carriers globally has created an unprecedented market opportunity for more agile and cost-efficient operators,” Wander adds. “These aircraft will enable our operators to accelerate the recovery in the destinations they serve.”
Boeing has landed orders for some 140 737 Max in recent months. Those include a December 2020 commitment from Ryanair for 75 Max and the sale of 25 of the type to United Airlines in February.
Update as of 15 March 2021:
777 Partners tells FlightGlobal it expects to begin receiving the new jets in the “second half of the year, as the aviation market recovers”.
