Dubai: Turkish budget carrier SunExpress opened the Dubai Airshow 2023 with an order for up to 90 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, split between 45 firm and 45 options for the manufacturer’s narrow-body aircraft.
A joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, the all-Boeing 737 operator has an existing fleet of 66 planes.
“We have 45 confirmed orders, five options and purchase rights for 40 more aircraft,” said CEO of SunExpress Max T Kownatzki. With this order, the airline will essentially double its existing fleet in the next decade. “This is a CEO dream day."
The confirmed order for 45 jets includes 28 Max 8s and 17 Max10s. The five options and 40 purchase rights are all for Max 8s, but the airline will have substitution rights.
“We also have an existing order for 42 aircraft placed in 2013 and 2019. And we are substituting some of the Max 8s out of that order into 10. So the first ten we will receive is in 2027,” said the CEO.
Stan Deal, the CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said Kownatzki’s predecessor exercised 10 options for the 737 MAX 8 during the Dubai Airshow in 2019 when the aircraft was still grounded.
