Farnborough -- Boeing is to offer a higher capacity variant of the 737-8, a member of the new MAX family, to further improve seat-mile operating economics and increase competitiveness against the Airbus A320neo.
The minor model derivative will incorporate the mid-fuselage extra passenger exit door of the higher capacity 215-seat 737-9 to satisfy regulatory safety emergency evacuation requirements. The modification will give the new sub-model seating for up to 200, or around 11 more than the standard configuration of the 737-8. “It will have 5% better operating costs for a little less than a 1% dip on trip costs,” says Boeing Commercial Airplanes Vice Chairman and CEO, Ray Conner.
The variant, which at least for the moment is dubbed the 737-8MAX (to differentiate it from the original 737-MAX8 designation) will “take advantage of the extra 88 inches of space in the cabin,” says Conner referring to the longer internal dimensions of the 737-800/MAX -8 cabin compared to the A320. The decision was taken to offer the derivative at this relatively late stage in the MAX program because “we got a lot more comfortable with where we are, and as performance has continued to improve over the course of year. It was a matter of comfort and whether the customer base showed interest,” Conner adds.
The variant will become available after the three main 737 MAX models, the –7, -8 and -9, are developed and certificated. The current schedule calls for the 737-8 to be certified first in 2017, the -9 in 2018 and the -7 in 2019. The A320neo currently has 2,843 firm orders versus the 2,099 for the MAX.
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