The British Airways parent company had already declared purchase intentions in 2019, but nothing followed for a long time. But now the order comes – at a time when other models cause more trouble than the 737 Max.
tknockout Frankfurt ⋅ This order has a long history: The British Airways parent company IAG orders 50 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, supplemented by an option for 100 more. This order was publicly discussed for the first time in 2019. Three years ago there were encouraging words for Boeing, when then IAG CEO Willie Walsh announced intentions to buy up to 200 737 Max aircraft. Because the series was completely on the ground – after two crashes, problems with the control software that was partly responsible for the accidents were not yet resolved. There were almost no more new customers for the aircraft type.
But Walsh expressed confidence in Boeing in 2019 and said the planes would be a “great addition” to the fleet of the IAG group, which, in addition to British Airways, also includes the Spanish Iberia and the low-cost airlines Vueling belong. It was all the more astonishing that the aviation industry registered that the positive words for Boeing were not followed by any action for a long time, i.e. the declaration of intent was not followed by an order. That all changed on Thursday. IAG takes delivery of 25 aircraft of the 737 Max version specially designed for low-cost airlines. These should primarily be intended for the Vueling brand, which currently flies with Airbus aircraft. The other half of the firm order is for 25 of the stretched 737 Max 10 aircraft variant. With the option for 100 more jets, the order is smaller than the 200 aircraft planned for 2019, but it is still an important large order for Boeing.