Silk Way Airlines and Boeing Sign Contract for Purchase of 10 Boeing-737 MAX Aircraft

Baku / 14.04.17 / Turan: On April 14, the Azerbaijani airline Silk Way Airlines and the American aerospace corporation Boeing signed a contract in Baku for the purchase of ten passenger aircraft Boeing-737 MAX. The total amount of the agreement is about 1 billion US dollars.

The document was signed by the President of Silk Way Holding Zaur Akhundov and the Senior Vice President of Boeing Martti Bentrott. The signing ceremony was attended by the President of AZAL Jahangir Askerov and the US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta.

Based on preliminary discussions with Ex-Im Bank of the USA, for the first time in the history of Azerbaijan's civil aviation the financing of the acquisition of aircraft will be carried out without the provision of state guarantees.

The agreement to supply modern aircrafts Boeing-737 MAX to Azerbaijan was reached last summer in the framework of the Farnborough Airshow-2016 in the UK.

The first two aircraft of the newest generation will be delivered to Azerbaijan by the end of 2018, and the rest - until the end of 2020.

Zaur Akhundov told journalists that by signing this agreement the civil aviation of Azerbaijan is entering a new stage of its development. “Silk Way Airlines will receive ten modern aircraft produced by Boeing. We plan to provide these aircraft to other air carriers on the basis of operational and financial leasing. This project has a very good perspective,” he said.

“We are very interested in signing such a document with the Azerbaijani company and are very satisfied with the agreement,” Cekuta said. He also expressed readiness of his country to cooperate with the low-budget company Buta Airways being created in Azerbaijan.

The planes purchased by Azerbaijan are designed for 189 passengers.   ----08D