Nordic leisure carrier Primera Air is ordering eight Boeing 737 Max 9 twinjets, under a deal which includes arrangements to take up to 12 more.
Primera Air – which operates for the Primera Travel Group – has operations in Scandinavia as well as Latvia.
Its Latvian division recently sought approval to operate services to US destinations.
Primera Air has ordered eight Max 9s directly from Boeing but is also arranging to acquire eight more from US lessor Air Lease.
The airline has also secured purchase rights for a further four of the type, says Boeing.
Primera's fleet comprises Boeing 737-700 and -800 jets.
Its president, Andri Ingolfsson, says that the airline intends to develop a transatlantic network, and adds that it intends to open "nonstop" long-haul services.
Primera has previously sought to operate to North America via Iceland.
"This aircraft has a lower per-seat cost than the current widebody aircraft servicing the transatlantic [routes] and the capabilities of this aircraft type will change the economics of the industry," says Ingolfsson.
Boeing states that the Max 9 will become the "backbone" of the airline during its expansion and says the carrier will use the type's auxiliary fuel tanks to "maximise" the aircraft's range and fly routes to the US east coast.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
