Japan Airlines will buy 21 Boeing 737 MAX jets for $2.5bn

Japan Airlines (JAL) has announced to buy 21 Boeing 737 MAX to replenish its narrowbody fleet.

Japan Airlines Co., Ltd., also known as JAL or Nikkō, is an international airline and Japan’s flag carrier and largest airline as of 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo’s Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, as well as Osaka’s Kansai International Airport and Itami Airport.

The deal is worth at least $2.5 billion at list prices, Reuters previously reported, and notches a win for Boeing against European rival Airbus, which was in talks with Japan Airlines on the bestselling A320neo narrowbody jet.

The JAL order ensures a foothold for the MAX with Japan’s flagship carrier as Boeing strives to undermine Airbus’s lead in the narrowbody market.

Although Japan Airlines predominantly operates Boeing planes, it delivered a shock to the aircraft industry in 2013 when it opted to buy Airbus’s A350 widebody aircraft over the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which at the time was struggling to correct technical problems.

The Boeing 737-800 currently makes up the largest portion of JAL’s narrowbody fleet, with the carrier owning 47 jets and leasing another 17 737s, according to JAL.

However, Airbus has gained traction in Japan’s narrowbody market, with ANA’s low-cost Peach unit operating A320s and JAL’s Jetstar Japan flying leased A320s.