Malindo Air (Kuala Lumpur International) chief executive Chandran Rama Muthy has announced his carrier will be the B737-8's launch operator beating out Norwegian (Oslo Gardermoen) and Southwest Airlines (WN, Dallas Love Field).

“Malindo Air is very honoured and proud to be the world’s first carrier to fly passengers on this state-of-the-art innovation,” he said in a statement issued during the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA’17). "This new aircraft, which allows us to go to further destinations at a distance of 7 hours 30 mins, will certainly help attract tourists to our country. As tourism is a key revenue generator for the country, this new aircraft will play a key role in providing lower fares on air travel."

While Rama Muthy confirmed Malindo Air expects up to four four B737 MAX 8s this year alone, he did not, however, comment on when the Lion Air (JT, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) subsidiary would take delivery of its maiden aircraft of the type from Boeing (BOE, Washington National).

In terms of jets, Malindo Air currently operates twenty-three B737-800s and six B737-900(ER)s. Of its routes, the longest is currently Kuala Lumpur International-Jeddah International, Saudi Arabia, which it operates with a B737-900(ER) using Ahmedabad, India, as a technical stop on both legs.