Azerbaijan carriers to purchase more Boeing aircraft

Azerbaijan’s two largest airlines will buy another six Boeing aircraft by the end of 2017, the US Embassy of Azerbaijan has announced.

Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plans to sign a contract to buy four 787s, while Silk Way Airlines will acquire two more 747-8 freighters. These new purchases are Azerbaijan’s fourth major investment in Boeing aircraft since 2015.

Azerbaijan US ambassador Elin Suleymanov said the order will mark “the latest investment by our country in American-made products, the American economy and in American workers.”

In 2015, AZAL—Azerbaijan’s flagship carrier and largest airline—acquired its first 787, assembled at Boeing’s Charleston, South Carolina plant, which employs 7,500 workers.

In April of this year, Azerbaijan’s Silk Way Airlines purchased 10 new 737-MAX 8 aircraft to be built at the Boeing’s assembly plant in Renton, Washington, which employs more than 12,000 workers. These aircraft will begin flying in 2018. In 2015, Silk Way purchased three Boeing 747-8Fs manufactured at Boeing’s Everett, Washington, plant, home to 30,000 employees.

Azerbaijan Airlines and Silk Way Airlines operate direct passenger and cargo flights between Baku and New York, as well as direct cargo flights between Baku and Chicago.

Linda Blachly linda.blachly@penton.com