Greater Bay Airlines (HB, Hong Kong International) is close to finalising an agreement with Boeing to acquire fifteen B737-9s in what is shaping up as a strategically significant order because it will lock the Hong Kong startup airline into a long-term relationship with the US aircraft manufacturer.
According to a Bloomberg report, the announcement of the deal is imminent and deliveries of the 200-passenger planes will commence in 2024. Boeing declined to comment and Greater Bay Airlines has not responded to ch-aviation's request for comment before publication. Greater Bay Airlines only started operations in July 2022 and now flies a fleet of three leased B737-800s. The airline flies from Hong Kong to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Seoul Incheon, Taipei Taoyuan, and began flights Tokyo Narita last month.
"We aim to extend our aircraft fleet to 22 by 2027," CEO Stanley Hui Hon-chung said in Hong Kong last month. "We will focus on short-haul trips between Asia-Pacific and mainland China with Beijing and Shanghai as our next destinations." The order comes at an opportune time. Local media are reporting that cross-border trips into mainland China from Hong Kong and Macau are at three-year highs and exceeding 600,000 people per day. Nonetheless, this number remains just one-third of the average daily pre-pandemic border crossing numbers.
Meanwhile, Engine Lease Finance Corporation (ELFC) has confirmed it has completed their first spare engine lease transaction with Greater Bay Airlines. The CFM International CFM56-7B26 engine will support the operation of the existing B737-800 fleet. "We look forward to supporting them (Greater Bay Airlines) for years to come as they develop into a leading airline in Asia," said ELFC's Helge Pistor.
