Monarch Airlines (London-Luton) and Boeing (Chicago and Seattle) today finalized an order for 30 737 MAX 8s worth more than $3.2 billion at current list prices. The order, originally announced at the Farnborough International Airshow in July when Monarch selected Boeing as its preferred bidder for fleet replacement, includes options for 15 additional 737 MAX 8s and marks the beginning of the British carrier’s transition to an all-Boeing single-aisle fleet.

The 737 MAX has accumulated 2,325 orders to date from 48 customers and is the fastest selling airplane in Boeing history.

Headquartered at London Luton Airport, but also operating from five other U.K. bases – London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, East Midlands and Leeds-Bradford – Monarch predominantly serves holiday destinations around the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands as well as European ski resorts. Founded in 1968, the British carrier will move to a cost effective and uniform fleet of 737 MAX 8s within the next decade.

As previously reported, on October 24, Monarch Airlines and other parts of Monarch Holdings Limited, the UK’s leading independent leisure travel group, completed a restructuring program and sale of 90 percent of the group to Greybull Capital LLP under which it secured £125 million of permanent capital and liquidity facilities.

Image: Boeing.

Monarch Airlines: