FARNBOROUGH—U.S. investment firm 777 Partners has announced orders and commitments for up to 66 737 MAXs, including a firm order for 30 high-density 737-8200s.
777 Partners assigns its aircraft to ultra-LCCs around the world, such as Canadian ULCC Flair Airlines and Australian startup Bonza Airline, which will begin operations this year. Bonza's initial route map includes 27 routes to 17 destinations, 93% of which are not currently served by any airline.
“Two airlines will soon be three. And in the future, four, five and six, really using the MAX platform to enable our capacity to deliver ultra-low cost airlines,” Wander said.
The order, which was announced at the Farnborough Airshow on Tuesday, increases 777 Partners’ MAX commitments to 134 aircraft made across five deals.
“Four years ago, we sat here in Farnborough as a company that had never purchased an aircraft in our history, which was a very short history at the time,” 777 Partners managing partner Josh Wander said at a signing ceremony at the air show.
“At the time, we committed to the Boeing guys that we would buy 1,000 airplanes from them in future. They looked at us with shocked amazement … four years later, we're here today to announce up to another 66 aircraft.”
Notably, 777 Partners is planning to take the 737-8200—the high-density variant which holds over 200 passengers and will be operated by Irish ULCC Ryanair.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Stan Deal noted that 777 Partners stuck with Boeing during “a very difficult time” and launched an airline in very challenging market conditions. Deal also joked that 777 Partners has now achieved 13.4% of its 1,000 aircraft target.
777 Partners is a Miami-based private investment firm that was founded in 2015, targeting six industries, including aviation. The firm seeks to acquire and build businesses at all stages of development, with the aim of generating long-term cash flows and economies of scale.
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