Nok Air (DD, Bangkok Don Mueang) has reached an agreement with Boeing (BOE, Washington National) to defer by one year, the delivery of eight B737 MAX jets currently on order.
According to the Bangkok Post, the deferral is part of a business restructuring plan being implemented by newly appointed chief executive Piya Yodmani. The move is aimed at reversing incremental losses that, from 2014 to June 2017, have totaled THB4.93 billion baht (USD149 million).
Under the terms of the deal with Boeing, Nok Air will take delivery of its first two B737-8s in 2019 instead of 2018. Thereafter, two more MAX, due in 2019, have now been pushed back to 2020 while the remaining four, originally slated to arrive in 2020, have now been deferred until 2021.
The report also states that Nok Air is also looking to accelerate the return to their lessors of five B737-800s and two ATR72-500s. This it hopes to achieve by year-end or early next year. Piya has noted that early returns will subject his carrier to penalties with the aircraft's respective owners.
Going forward, Nok Air will increase the utilization of its remaining fleet of twenty-two B737-800s and eight Dash 8-400s before taking on any more new aircraft. The fleet is currently in service for eight hours per day whereas Piya is seeking an average of eleven.
