Norwegian Orders 30 Boeing 737 MAXs

Boeing has confirmed an order for its 737 MAX, with Norwegian Group as the customer.

The Scandinavian carrier said it will order 30 of the 737-8 jets, part of the MAX program, intending to deploy them across its European services.

Moreover, the purchase, which could be considered a landmark one, is the first direct order for any Boeing aircraft since 2017, following many years of financial turbulence that had prevented expansion.

The order means the order book for 737 MAX aircraft rises to 80, and the aircraft will now play an even larger role in Norway’s day-to-day operations moving forward.

Geir Karlsen, the CEO of Norwegian, stated that the aircraft order comes with attractive terms and also ensures that fleet growth can continue, while meeting sustainability targets.

Exercising options also provides flexibility in the delivery profile, which is important for a company such as Norwegian as it continues to emerge from a challenging period.

These aircraft will not only lower emissions but also provide our customers with an even better travel experience. We are pleased to extend our solid long-term partnership with Boeing through this order.

Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

A new purchase also followed mid-2024, reporting that suggested the airline would continue to experience delays in the delivery of new aircraft from Boeing, which would affect its growth forecasting.

During this period, Boeing was not the only planemaker experiencing delays in aircraft delivery; similar issues were also occurring at Airbus. Norwegian expressed that it wasn’t entirely happy with the situation, but understood that it was limited in its ability to change matters.

Boeing Comments On 737 MAX Deal

Boeing says that the deal is an important one to further enhance its 737 MAX backlog, but also highlights the impressive perfromance that has been experienced at Norwegian in recent years.

The planemaker’s Senior Vice President of Commercial Sales and Marketing states that Norwegian has been a valuable partner to the 737 program for some time, with over 200 orders placed since 2007.

The fact that the business emerged from restructuring and a poor financial position highlights the strong work taken to turn around its fortunes. Now, the airline is once more placing its trust in Boeing and the single-aisle aircraft family to take it forward and further enhance connectivity.

The 737 MAX at Boeing is critical to its long-term stability as it continues rebuilding efforts. With that in mind, the planemaker needs not only to continue selling the model after years of turbulence but also to find a means to increase production moving forward.

Boeing executives have repeatedly publicly linked the financial position to the production levels of the 737 MAX; however, given that these levels have been limited for years, change is necessary.