Another European airline has put its trust on the Boeing 737 MAX.
DALLAS — Luxair (LG), Luxembourg's flag passenger airline, has announced a fleet expansion including the future incorporation of four Boeing 737 MAX Family aircraft. The chosen variant is the Boeing 737-8 and the first units are expected to be delivered for the summer season of 2023.
Gilles Feith, CEO of Luxair, stated: Luxair took a large step in the direction of securing its role as the quality airline of Luxembourg and the Greater Region. Today marks just the beginning of the journey of securing the long-term future of Luxair. Much more is yet to come."
According to Boeing, the 737-8 will provide flexibility across Luxair's network while reducing fuel use and emissions by up to 20%, and on average, each airplane will save up to eight million pounds of CO2 emissions annually compared to those airplanes it replaces.
Of those four units, two aircraft will be delivered via leasing, while the other two have been directly purchased by the European airline and have yet to be produced by the manufacturer. Leasing aircraft is sometimes the best choice for airlines that have a much more flexible prediction of the future market, as it gives them the opportunity to return these aircraft if needed, instead of having to sign for the compromise of fully possessing them for the long-term.
It will be the first time Luxair will operate the newest generation of the 737. At the moment of writing, LG actively flies eight Boeing 737 NGs (Next Generation). The two fully purchased units will be delivered in 2026.
One could think that Luxair is a small carrier with limited representation worldwide. However, the national airline of Luxembourg has been a very influential company both inside and outside of the Grand Dutchy of Luxembourg since its foundation in 1961.
The airline is based at the Luxembourg-Findel Airport (LUX), located in the middle of the most populated and economically prosperous region of Europe, known as the "Blue Banana", which runs along the Rhine river and includes big cities such as Milan, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Brussels, Amsterdam, and London.
Because of that, Luxair is the main participant, with a 35% share, of the well-known cargo airline and distributor Cargolux (CV), which today shares a big chunk of the world air freight market and plays in direct competition with other big companies such as Lufthansa Cargo (LH) or DHL.
Luxair operates a shy yet crucial route network of 80 destinations around Europe and flies 20 aircraft including the Boeing 737, De Havilland Canada Q400, and Embraer E190.
Featured image: Boeing
https://airwaysmag.com/cargolux-replace-747-with-777-8f/
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