Kuwait-based airplane leasing company ALAFCO and Boeing on Tuesday announced initial commitment for 20 Boeing 737 MAX 8s valued at $1.9bn at current list prices.
The signing ceremony was attended by Ahmad A Alzabin, ALAFCO's chairman and CEO, and Ray Conner, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes at the Farnborough Airshow in the UK.
Arabian Business - 17 July 2012
Alzabin said in a statement: "Today, with rising fuel costs, the 737 MAX will provide operational cost savings to airlines in addition to being more environmentally-friendly due to its latest quiet engine technology.
"These are the advantages that airlines are looking for in the current competitive and demanding environment."
Conner added: "This is the first agreement for the 737 MAX from the Middle East which is one of the industry's highest growth regions.
"We are proud of the confidence that ALAFCO has placed in the 737 MAX which will deliver unsurpassed fuel efficiency in the single-aisle market as well as improved environmental performance."
The 737 MAX has accumulated more than 1,000 orders and commitments from 17 customers worldwide since its launch in August last year.
ALAFCO had previously ordered six 737-800s in March 2007 with the last airplane delivered to the leasing company in July 2011.
2 comments:
The Boeing 737 MAX is a direct competition to the A320NEO which was purchased by GCC carriers in record numbers at the Dubai Airshow. Today, in the KT, a spokeperson for KA stated that they are not in a position to purchase/lease any airplanes, but are waiting to privatise the carrier to some poor investor in the present state of affairs, which they have been saying for years now. I say to KA that they need to overhaul their national carrier and support Kuwaiti businesses by leasing/purchasing planes from ALAFCO, which is one of the few profitable companies in Kuwait at the moment, due to a failing economy from not implementing the development plan, which lies on the Parliament's floor. I don't care for FLYDUBAI, because I hate Terminal 2 and they need to address their customer service policies, however, they are flying better planes which are Boeing planes, than Jazeera who are flying the Airbus which are looking rather shabby at the moment. With the popularity of the A380 which is a flying experience in itself, Boeing had to up their game in the regional market who are not cash-strapped to upgrade their fleet (except for Kuwait).
Kuwait Airways should be leasing planes and upgrading their planes and they should be utilizing ALAFCO because they should be supporting a Kuwaiti company, regardless if they are going to sell the carrier. It is about national pride! According to media sources, "He also suspected that the present ‘state of affairs’ at the airline had been created deliberately by certain influential bodies with the ‘hidden agenda’ of taking over KAC at a cheap price. “These bodies were operating silently for years to take control of the airline,” he alleged. “The decision to ground three aging planes, then the decision to repair them and put them back into service are but examples of arbitrarily decisions taken without showing any real intention to save the KAC”, added the sources, noting that wasting fortunes for maintaining such an old fleet had been costing KAC a loss of over KD 80 million a year.
Al-Sawwagh added that the best solution would be to take a few aircraft on lease to avoid major losses that may result from cancelling flights and routes and buying new aircraft."
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