AZAL signs to buy five more Boeing 787s

The signing ceremony was held at Dubai Air Show (AZAL)

Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) and Boeing signed a contract for five 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft on the first day of this year’s Dubai Air Show. The carrier expects to take delivery of the widebodies between 2019 and 2020.

AZAL currently operates two 787-8s. This past summer the airline indicated its willingness to order four more of the type.

AZAL will also become the launch customer for Boeing’s 787 Landing Gear Exchange Program.

On the same day, the Azeri carrier committed to buying “two Boeing 747-8F or Boeing 777F” freighters, with deliveries in 2019-20. The choice of the type will be finalized at a later date. Both aircraft will most likely be operated by AZAL’s cargo subsidiary Silk Way West Airlines, whose fleet comprises Boeing 747 freighters.

At current list prices, the combined value of both agreements amounts to $1.9 billion.

Also at Dubai, AZAL signed with Rockwell Collins to equip its airliners with high-speed broadband in-flight connectivity and overhead in-flight entertainment using Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) satellite network. Additionally, the carrier will get a full suite of advanced avionics, including Rockwell Collins’s MultiScan ThreatTrack weather radar that is capable of detecting adverse weather phenomena in the aircraft’s flight path. The equipment will come as part of the 10 LEAP-1`B-powered Boeing 737 MAX narrowbodies due to be delivered to the airline in 2018-20.