Jeju Air to buy 3 Boeing 737-800s for 2018 delivery

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- Jeju Air said Friday it has signed a contract to buy three Boeing 737-800s for delivery in 2018.

Jeju Air is the first South Korean budget carrier to purchase new airplanes as South Korean low cost carriers have flown leased airplanes alone.

Jeju Air currently has 26 leased airplanes.

The company expects the purchase of the Boeing airplanes to lower costs with no lease fees and reductions in the expenses for the maintenance and repair of airplanes.

"We've entered the first phase of the mid and long-term growth strategy by improving the production cost, consolidating the profit model and establishing the optimum structure for the operation of airplanes," said Choi Kyu-nam, president of Jeju Air.

Choi added that his company will increase the number of airplanes to 32 by the end of the year to fly more than 10 million air passengers on 50 regular air routes.

hdh@yna.co.kr
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