Lion Air To Take 50 More Boeing 737 Max 10s

Boeing on Tuesday identified Indonesia’s Lion Air as the customer for a purchase order covering fifty 737 Max 10s worth $6.24 billion, marking the largest incremental order ever for the biggest Max variant. Boeing previously attributed the order to an unidentified customer on its orders and deliveries website.

The Lion Air Group became the first in the world to put into service the 737 Max 8, soon after its Malindo Air subsidiary took delivery of the airplane in May 2017. Last month, Thai Lion Air became the first to take delivery of a 737 Max 9, using the airplane's added capacity to launch several international routes.

The Max 10 incorporates a pair of fuselage plugs to extend the Max 9’s length by 66 inches. Other changes include a levered main landing gear, minor wing changes to accommodate the 777-style landing gear, and a four-inch-wider mid-exit door to allow for the extra 12 passengers, bringing maximum capacity to 230. Boeing claims the Max 10 delivers 5 percent better trip cost and 5 percent lower seat-mile cost than the A321LR.

Boeing reached firm design configuration in early February, ushering in the start of the program’s detailed design phase. The company expects to deliver the first airplane in 2020 to one of 18 customers that have committed to 416 of the airplanes since its launch at last year’s Paris Air Show.