newstodate.aero

May 30, 2022 (newstodate): Norwegian opened this week with the announcement of a deal with Boeing for new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
   According to a stock exchange release, the company has signed a LoI with Boeing for delivery of 50 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft plus options for a further 30 aircraft, with deliveries in 2025-28, basically replacing the existing fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft as their lease contracts expire.
   The deliveries of the new fleet will thus not by itself be a fleet expansion, and a "significant part" of the aircraft will be directly owned by the carrier itself, with the other part taken on lease arrangements,
   The two parties intend to finalize the deal before the end of June 2022.
   The new LoI follows almost exactly two years after "the old" Norwegian filed a legal claim in June 2020, seeking the return of pre-delivery payments related to the aircraft and compensation for the company’s losses related to the grounding of 11 Boeing 737 Max and engine issues on the Boeing 787.
   So far, this legal case still remains unsettled, but the new agreement between the two parties may signal that a solution has been found - maybe in the form of favorable aircraft acquisition terms and conditions.