Silk Way West Airlines Agrees to Purchase Three Aircraft 747-8 Freighter

Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Azerbaijan-based airline Silk Way West announced that the two companies are finalizing terms and working toward a purchase agreement for three 747-8 Freighter airplanes.

When finalized, the contract will be valued at more than $1.1 billion at current list prices. The order will be posted on Boeing's Orders & Deliveries website once all contingencies are cleared.

"Silk Way Group is a longstanding customer and operator of Boeing's products and services," said Marty Bentrott, vice president Middle East, Russia and Central Asia Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We value our partnership with Silk Way West and are grateful for their enduring confidence in Boeing and the 747-8 Freighter."

Silk Way West is an enterprise of the Silk Way Group, which includes 23 companies working in the aviation industry and related services. The airline currently operates seven Boeing airplanes, including two 767-300 Freighters, three 747-400 Freighters and two 747-8 Freighters.

The 747-8 Freighter has no competitors, providing cargo operators the lowest operating costs and best economics of any large freighter airplane while providing enhanced environmental performance. The 747-8 Freighter offers 16 percent more revenue cargo volume than the 747-400, while keeping its iconic nose door.

Last time Silk Way Airlines purchased from Boeing two 747-8 Freighter aircraft in August 2014.

Note that the parent company of Silk Way Group Ltd. is Silk Way Airlines LLC. This company was established on the basis of the British capital. The holding, unlike their foreign partners, does not disclose the financial statements. It includes JSC Silk Way Bank and Silk Way Insurance, which contrary to the requirements of international financial reporting does not indicate its ultimate owners in published reports. Earlier the press published investigative journalism, in which it was noted that they belong to the daughters of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the daughter of the President of the state-run Azerbaijan Airlines Jahangir Askerov. ----08B