Boeing today revealed an order for 15 more MAX aircraft. The order will see the lessor Dubai Aerospace Enterprise taking the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. This will be the group’s first direct order for the type, having already bought some directly from airlines.
Some were concerned that airlines’ trust in the 737 MAX would be eroded following a two-year grounding of the type. While it is true that many orders for the jet have been canceled, we’ve also seen a steady stream of new orders since the type returned to the skies. This has included orders from the likes of Ryanair and Alaska Airlines.
Another new MAX order
Today Boeing revealed that it had clocked another new order for the 737 MAX. This time, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) will be taking 15 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. While this is the first direct order the lessor has placed for the type, it won’t be the first MAX that it owns.
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Late last year, DAE signed an agreement to purchase 18 of American Airlines’ 737 MAX aircraft to lease them back. This generated instant cash from the sale of the aircraft for the airline. However, it comes with the requirement to make regular smaller payments for the jets.
It’s not just AA that has entered sale and leaseback agreements with DAE, though. GOL, the first airline to resume MAX flights, previously signed a similar deal with the group regarding five of its MAX aircraft.
Commenting on the sale, Boeing’s Senior Vice President of Commerical Sales and Marketing, Ihssane Mounir, said,
“DAE has been instrumental in helping its customers realize the operating economics and environmental performance of the 737-8. We are delighted that they have come back to add more 737 aircraft to its growth plan as it positions itself for the recovery in commercial passenger traffic.”
When will the first one be delivered?
Sometimes when Boeing announces a new order, it will give a timeline for delivering the first aircraft. However, it hasn’t done so with the announcement of DAE’s orders. Such deliveries could begin sooner than usual, though. During the type’s grounding, customers canceled many orders for the MAX. This included some jets that had already been built but not delivered.
These jets are known as white tails. Previous estimates suggested that there were over 100 of these jets not attributed to orders. If DAE did place an order for these jets, they would’ve likely received an attractive rate from Boeing. It would also mean that the lessor doesn’t have to wait for jets to be built. However, we don’t know who DAE intends to lease the aircraft to at this point.
Who is Dubai Aerospace Enterprise?
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise is an aircraft lessor, meaning that it typically foots the bill to buy an aircraft and then makes this money back by renting it to an airline. Unsurprisingly, the company is based in Dubai. However, it has offices worldwide, including in Dublin and Seattle.
The company has a portfolio of over 400 aircraft, including planes from Boeing, Airbus, and ATR. This gives the company’s fleet a value of over $16 billion. It also has an engineering department that can work on 13 aircraft types, housing 15 planes at once.
What do you make of DAE’s 737 MAX order? Do you think the lessor will take white tail aircraft? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!