Iceland’s flag-carrier Icelandair will expand its fleet by leasing two additional Boeing 737 MAX aircraft from lessor Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE).
The new delivery is expected to reach Icelandair’s fleet in spring 2022.
The additional aircraft will bring the total number of 737 MAXs in the airline’s fleet to 14 by next summer.
“With favorable conditions in commercial aircraft markets, and the continued ramp up of our route network we saw an opportunity and need to expand our fleet of Boeing 737 MAX. The aircraft have proved to perform even better than expected, both in terms of flight range and fuel-efficiency which will also contribute to our efforts of reducing the carbon emissions from our operations,” Bogi Nils Bogason, CEO of Icelandair Group announced in a press statement.
Icelandair restarted its operations with Boeing 737 MAXs in spring 2021, two years after the aircraft were grounded globally in March 2019 following two fatal crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia. ’Both incidents were caused by issues with MAX software pushing the jets to nosedive.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued the final Airworthiness Directive to unground the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in Europe on January 27, 2021.