newstodate.aero

Jan 19, 2022 (newstodate): Long a strong critic of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, Icelandair has regained its confidence in the aircraft type.
   The carrier has thus inked a long-term operating lease contract with Dubai Aerospace Enterprise for two ex-factory Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
   The aircraft will be delivered in spring 2022, in time for the coming summer schedule, bringing the fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to 14, with one more lease looming.
   In the fleet are now six Boeing 737 MAX 8 and six Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft.
   -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, says Bogi Nils Bogason, Icelandair Group's CEO.
   Actually, Icelandair placed orders for a total of 16 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft including nine MAX 8 and seven MAX 9 aircraft with deliveries to be completed in 2021.
   However, Icelandair reached an agreement with Boeing in August 2020 to cut back the order to only 12 aircraft as part of the settlement to alleviate the problems by the grounding of the aircraft type after two serious and fatal accidents.