São Paulo, September 5, 2017 – GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. (“GOL” or “Company”), (NYSE: GOL and B3: GOLL4), Brazil's #1 airline, announces sale and leaseback transactions with GE Capital Aviation Services (“GECAS”) for seven aircraft, including five Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft and two Boeing 737-800 Next Generation (NG) aircraft. Additionally, the Company signed the direct operating lease of five additional 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
Keith Leverkuhn, Boeing’s vice president and 737 MAX general manager, explained that the 737 NG and the MAX have both been designed for world-class efficiency, reliability, and flexibility. “The lightweight design of the 737 MAX plus the new engine and aerodynamic technologies make the MAX incredibly fuel efficient,” says Leverkuhn. According to Boeing, the fuel use per seat of the 737 MAX is as much as 20% lower than the airplanes it replaces in service.
GOL’s new 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which will begin to arrive in the second half of 2018, with capacity for 186 customers will be configured with GOL+Conforto seats in the domestic flights and GOL Premium Class on international routes. The 737 MAX-8 aircraft have flight autonomy of up to 6,500 km (compared to the 5,500 km of the 737-800 NG) and GOL can offer non-stop flights from Brazil to any destination in Latin America and Florida.
"These transactions with GECAS will increase the number of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft planned for 2018 from five to six, without changing our overall fleet plan of 121 aircraft at year-end 2018," said Celso Ferrer, GOL’s Planning Vice President. The Company has a fleet of 120 Boeing 737 aircraft.