Brazil’s Gol has signed a agreements for 28 more Boeing 737 Max aircraft as it renews its fleet more quickly than originally planned.
The San Paulo-based airline says in a new fleet plan published on 3 August that it will accelerate retirements of older-generation 737 NGs, and increase the share of the newer, more-efficient narrowbody jet to 75% of the fleet by 2030.
”We are accelerating our fleet transformation plan in anticipation of a strong recovery in travel in the post-pandemic environment,” says chief executive Paulo Kakinoff. “The 737 Max positions GOL more competitively for growth through the expansion of routes and destinations, while also enhancing the company’s value for all stakeholders through increased efficiency.”
The new aircraft will help reduce the airline’s unit costs by 8% already next year, in addition to supporting its goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, Gol adds.
“The 737 Max family delivers greater reductions in fuel consumption, carbon emissions and costs than other single-aisle aircraft, in addition to high aircraft utilization and high load factors,” says the airline’s vice-president of operations, Celso Ferrer. “This is in-line with Gol’s commitment to sustainability through continuing to modernise of our fleet with more fuel-efficient and climate-friendly aircraft.”
The 28 aircraft will replace 23 737-800s by the end of 2022, and will be financed through direct operating leases (15 aircraft), sale leasebacks (nine aircraft), and finance leases (four aircraft), Gol says. The airline expects the deal to result in $200 million of cash equity gains.
The airline currently has 12 737 Max in service, and has returned 18 737-800s in the past year and a half.
Gol says it now operates 127 aircraft in its all-Boeing 737 fleet, and according to the new fleet plan, it expects to end the year with 130 aircraft. Of those, 22% – or 28 aircraft – will be of the more modern Max model.
According to the plan, in the coming years Gol will continually reduce the number of older NG aircraft and ramp up the number of Max.
“Bringing in the 737 Maxes enables Gol to accelerate returns of -700 and -800 NG aircraft on short-term leases, while it maintains substantial flexibility to manage its fleet in close alignment with fluctuations in demand for air travel during the pandemic,” Gol adds.
| GOL’s Fleet Plan | 2020 | 2Q21 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
737 NG 700 |
24 |
23 |
18 |
18 |
16 |
14 |
12 |
|
737 NG 800 |
96 |
94 |
84 |
74 |
67 |
68 |
63 |
|
737 MAX 8 |
7 |
10 |
28 |
44 |
51 |
58 |
65 |
|
737 MAX 10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
7 |
10 |
|
TOTAL (end of period) |
127 |
127 |
130 |
136 |
139 |
147 |
150 |
By the end of 2025, the carrier aims to operate a fleet of 150 aircraft, of which half (75) will be Max-type aircraft.
“With its current 737 Max commitments, Gol will meet its objective of having a 75% Max fleet by 2030,” the airline says.
The Brazilian carrier is Boeing’s primary customer in Latin America, and the new order gives the beleaguered new-generation 737 Max a boost after the type was grounded for 20 months following two fatal accidents in 2018 and 2019.
Last week Gol said that it transported 2.9 million passengers during the second quarter of 2021, almost five times the number it carried a year ago in the same quarter of pandemic-plagued 2020. Load factor rose to 85%. Kakinoff said at the time that he expects passenger demand to continue to soar as vaccination rates in the country rise.
