WestJet (WS, Calgary) has announced it has signed a definitive purchase agreement with Boeing (BOE, Washington National) for up to twenty B787-9s.

According to a press release, the agreement entails commitments for ten aircraft of which three will be delivered in 2019, three in 2020, and four in 2021-22. The agreement also includes options for an additional ten aircraft to be delivered between 2020 and 2024.

The twinjets will be powered by General Electric GEnx-1B powerplants.

At present, WestJet's widebody fleet of four B767-300(ER)s is leased from BCC Equipment Leasing. They are used on domestic Canadian trunk routes as well as services to Hawaii and the United Kingdom.

"With a range of more than 14,000 kilometres, the Dreamliner will give WestJet the ability to serve new destinations in Asia and South America, and to expand its service offerings into the European market," the airline said.

As part of the purchase agreement, WestJet has also converted fifteen B737 MAX firm orders that were to have been delivered between 2019 and 2021, to options available between 2022 and 2024. In total, Westjet now has options to purchase an additional twenty-five B737 MAX between the years 2020 and 2027.

A review of the carrier's 1Q17 earnings shows the original order for sixty-five B737 MAXs now entails fifty firm aircraft spread across all three existing MAX variants i.e. twenty B737 MAX 7s, twenty-three MAX 8s, and seven MAX 9s.

WestJet's revised firm B737 MAX delivery roster is as follows: For 2017: four B737-8s; in 2018 four B737 MAX 8s and three B737-9s; in 2019 two B737 MAX 7s and four MAX 9s; in 2020 one B737 MAX 7 and two MAX 8s; in 2021-22 one B737 MAX 7 and three MAX 8s; in 2023-27 sixteen MAX 7s and ten MAX 8s.