Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia Airlines said on Wednesday it has agreed to buy up to 50 Boeing Max planes in a deal worth $2.75 billion as part of its fleet renewal and said it hopes to relist on the stock exchange by 2019. The airline’s new CEO, Peter Bellew, said the deal included 25 firm orders, worth $2.75 billion, and the right to purchase another 25 jets, with deliveries to start in 2019. Airlines usually get a discount from aircraft list prices.
It marked the first major purchase after the ailing national carrier was taken private after years of financial losses and further hit by two air disasters in 2014 — the disappearance of Flight 370 and the loss of another plane shot down over Ukraine.
The airline is undergoing a $1.56 billion overhaul that included cutting 6,000 jobs and axing unprofitable routes.
