China's Ruili Airlines plans to order 60 planes from Boeing worth US$6b
A start-up airline based in Kunming has teamed up with two Chinese lessors to order 60 737-MAX planes worth US$6 billion from Boeing.
A start-up airline based in Kunming has teamed up with two Chinese lessors to order 60 737-MAX planes worth US$6 billion from Boeing.
Ruili Airlines, wholly owned by Yunnan Jingcheng Group, said it planned to purchase 30 of Boeing's newest narrowbody planes with Avic Leasing and another 30 with Minsheng Financial Leasing.
Talks are on with the lessor partners on how many aircraft the airline would take on financial or operating leases, the airline's general manager, Ma Zhanwei, told the .
The 60 planes were to be delivered between 2021 and 2025, he said, adding Ruili plans to increase its fleet from the current five to 26 by 2020.
"Depending on how many aircraft we will need then, we might lease some out to other airlines. We are sharing the delivery slots and we are sharing the revenue [of potential leases]," he said.
Boeing's rival model to Airbus's A320neo is expected to be delivered to its first customer, American budget carrier Southwest Airlines, in 2017.
Ruili, which entered its second year of operation yesterday, currently flies to 15 western Chinese cities from Kunming with five Boeing 737 planes. Two are configured with two classes and the rest are economy only.
