Avia orders 40 Boeing 737 MAX jets

Avia Solutions Group, which leases aircraft and provides related services, has ordered 40 Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets, with an option to order 40 additional jets, the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The 40 jets will be valued at about $2.17 billion, according to Reuters calculations based on estimated delivery prices from Cirium Ascend.

Avia Solutions which has 11 air operator certificates expects delivery of 737 MAX jets to start in 2030.

Production delays by aircraft manufacturers have boosted carriers' demand for leased planes to meet a spike in travel demand.

The need to service older planes and for additional pilots and crew members has also benefited Avia, which provides aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance.

Avia expects to expand its fleet to 600 aircraft by 2027, from 220 currently, Gediminas Ziemelis, Chairman of Avia Solutions Group previously told Reuters in an interview.

The order for Boeing comes as the aircraft manufacturer has been wrestling with a quality crisis from a January mid-air panel blowout and a recent strike by machinists, that halted most jet production and deepened a financial crisis.

The machinists agreed to end the strike earlier this month.