Caribbean Airlines (BW, Port of Spain) has chosen the B737 MAX for its fleet renewal plans with twelve to be delivered directly from Boeing (BOE, Washington National) over the coming years.

According to an airline statement, the first of its B737-8s will arrive in late 2019 and will feature 160 seats in a three-class configuration.

“To ensure that our longer-term growth strategy remains on track, I am thrilled to announce that in the fourth quarter of 2019, we will begin taking delivery of our new fleet, the Boeing 737 MAX. In addition to opening new markets, these new aircraft will provide us significant advantages on operating cost, specifically fuel and maintenance,” Caribbean Airlines Chairman, S. Ronnie Mohammed said.

Caribbean Airlines currently operates a fleet of twelve B737-800s all of which are leased from third-party firms including ALAFCO (one), AerCap (five), Air Lease Corporation (one), Apollo Aviation Group (three), Macquarie AirFinance (one), and Thunderbolt Aircraft Lease (one). It uses the type to serve various islands across the Caribbean as well as in the United States, Camada, Suriname, and Guyana.

It also operates five ATR72-600s on shorthaul inter-island flights and to Caracas Simón Bolivar.