Hong Kong's Greater Bay Airlines announces order for 15 Boeing 737-9 airplanes

By Jessie Pang and Joyce Zhou

(Reuters) - Hong Kong's Greater Bay Airlines (GBA) announced on Friday an order for 15 Boeing 737-9 airplanes, according to a company statement, with these planes to be gradually added to GBA's fleet between 2024 and 2027.

The statement was issued ahead of a signing ceremony in Hong Kong attended by Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and Bill Wong Cho Bau, the chairman of Greater Bay Airlines.

The agreement includes a "commitment" for five 787 Dreamliners from Boeing to support GBA's plans for international long-haul services, the statement added. No price was given for the deal at the ceremony, but Wong said he expected the new Boeing aircraft to be added to GBA's fleet between 2024 and 2027.

GBA, which launched last year, operates a fleet of three 737-800 jets, with flights to four destinations, including Bangkok, Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul.

"The airline also plans to bring in a number of additional 737-800s to meet its expansion needs before the arrival of the 737-9," the statement added.

The fledgling airline's CEO, Stanley Hui, had said this year that he planned to boost its fleet of planes as travel ramps up after years of COVID-19 restrictions.

(This story has been refiled to read "between", not "attended by", in paragraph 2)

(Reporting by Jessie Pang and Donny Kwok; Editing by James Pomfret, Himani Sarkar and Gerry Doyle)