Boeing has confirmed Iran Aseman Airlines signed a memorandum of agreement for 30 737 MAX aircraft, with a list price value of US$3b. The deal includes purchase rights for 30 additional 737 MAXs. Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2022. Boeing said it negotiated the MOA under authorisations from the US govt following a determination that Iran had met its obligations under the nuclear accord signed in 2015. Boeing said it will look to the Office of Foreign Assets Control for approval to perform under this transaction. In Dec 2016, Boeing announced it had firmed an MOA with Iran Air earlier that year for 50 narrowbody and 30 widebody aircraft in a deal valued at $16.6b at list prices. The contract covered 50 737 MAX 8s, 15 777-300ERs and 15 777-9Xs. <br/>
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Norwegian Air Shuttle will establish a unit in Argentina with 10 Boeing 737 narrow-body jets by the end of this year, CE Bjorn Kjos said. The carrier has applied for an air-operating certificate from authorities in the South American country and is now seeking rights to serve domestic routes there, Kjos said. The network would link up with planned flights to Buenos Aires from cities such as London, Paris, Barcelona, Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm using Boeing 787 wide-bodies. Norwegian Air formed an operating company at the beginning of 2017 to found a network in Argentina after earlier extending its discount model from European short-haul flights into North Atlantic operations. It has also been considering options for a second base in Asia with services from London and Paris to complement its Bangkok hub. <br/>
Cebu Pacific Air posted a PHP9.8b (US$196.4m) net profit in 2016, more than doubling the company’s PHP4.4b net income reported in 2015. Cebu attributed the growth to increased passenger demand and growth in ancillary revenues. The airline opened up new intra-regional routes during the year in the Visayas island region of the country, as well as service between the western Visayas city of Kalibo and Incheon, South Korea and direct service to Guam. Additionally, in May 2016 Cebu became one of the founding members of the Value Alliance, an alliance of 8 Asia-Pacific LCCs. Cebu’s total group revenue in 2016 rose 9.6% to PHP61.9b, compared to PHP56.5b in 2015. Passenger revenues increased 9.2% YOY to PHP3.9b and ancillary revenues were up 13.4% YOY to PHP1.4b. <br/>
AirAsia X has signed a memorandum of understanding to equip its Airbus A330s and A320s with Inmarsat’s GX Aviation connectivity. Under the MOU, which was announced April 4, AirAsia X plans to connect its long-haul fleet and ultimately upgrade its short-haul fleet to GX Aviation too. The carrier currently has no fixed inflight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) system on its 30 long-haul A330s. Instead, AirAsia X passengers are able to access the group’s ROKKI entertainment platform through offline tablets that can be rented from the airline. Conversely, on short-haul routes, Air Asia has already rolled out Inmarsat SwiftBroadband connectivity on more than 40 of its A320s. Passengers can access ROKKI content and connectivity via their own devices. <br/>