Jet Airways (JAI, Mumbai International) is negotiating a new order for B737 MAX with Boeing and could exceed a total of 200 commitments for the aircraft of this family, Chairman Naresh Goyal has told Bloomberg.
The Indian full-service carrier has signed firm orders for 150 of the newest generation of the B737s to date, including 125 directly from Boeing. The order includes fifty-four B737-8s. The carrier has not disclosed the exact type of the remaining units. The maiden delivery of a B737 MAX 8 for Jet Airways is expected in July 2018 and deliveries of the ordered units so far will run through 2023.
The new order would likely include the larger variants B737-9 and B737-10.
Goyal has also added that Jet Airways has not yet decided whether to take delivery of ten B787-9s it has on order or to cancel the deal.
Separately, the carrier is preparing to launch its maiden domestic services under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS or UDAN). Jet Airways is set to launch a Lucknow-Allahabad-Patna service on June 14, a Delhi International-Nashik service on June 15, and a Nagpur-Allahabad-Indore on June 16. Each of the routes will be operated 3x weekly.
In the second round of the UDAN rights allocations, awarded in early 2018, the carrier has also secured the Lucknow-Bareilly-Delhi route but its launch has been delayed pending the opening up of the military Bareilly airport to civilian flights.
Under the terms of the UDAN scheme, half of the tickets for flights offered under its guise is capped at a low level in order to boost connectivity in underserved or unserved regions.
In terms of network changes, the carrier has also announced it will launch its maiden services to Manchester International, connecting the city to Mumbai International 4x weekly from November 5, 2018, using an A330-200 equipment.
