The Romanian airline Blue Air received its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet following its long-term lease agreement with the American aircraft leasing company Air Lease Corporation.
On March 30, 2021, Air Lease Corporation (ALC) announced having delivered the first of ten new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft to Blue Air. Following a long-term lease agreement between the two parties, Blue Air expects to receive nine remaining jets from April 2021 through 2022. In addition to the agreement over ten new Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets, featuring CFM LEAP-1B25 engines, Blue Air already has 6 Boeing 737-800s and one Boeing 737-700 aircraft on a long-term lease with the American lessor.
“The delivery of this first of ten Boeing 737-8s comes in line with our airline’s commitment to providing European customers the better way of flying. As we increasingly acknowledge the responsibility of the airline industry for a greener future, Blue Air joins the airline community as an active player in delivering the lowest carbon emissions known to date by a narrow-body passenger aircraft,” the Majority Shareholder of Blue Air Cristian Rada was quoted in the airline‘s statement.
“A special acknowledgment and thanks go to the ALC team that made this delivery possible amid these challenging COVID times. This and the next projected deliveries will ensure Blue Air’s resilience and will secure our company position as the main Romanian player in the passenger aviation market,” Rada added.
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, the Executive Chairman of Air Lease Corporation, pointed out that once all of 10 committed aircraft are delivered to the airline, Blue Air will have the largest fleet of Boeing 737-8 jets in Eastern Europe.
“ALC is pleased to deliver this first of ten new 737 MAX 8 aircraft to Blue Air, Romania’s largest airline, today. […] The 737-8 will provide the most modern, fuel-efficient technology to advance the airline’s overall growth and route expansion objectives,” Udvar-Hazy said.
According to the Planespotters.com data, Blue Air has a total of 20 Boeing 737 Family jets, including two temporarily parked Boeing 737-300s, six Boeing 737-500s, one Boeing 737-700 jet, and ten Boeing 737-800s.