Brazilian carrier Gol has signed agreements to acquire another 28 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. 15 of the aircraft will be financed via direct operating leases, nine by leasebacks and four by finance leases, the airline says in a 3 August statement. Across its entire fleet, Gol targets for half the aircraft to be on finance leases and the rest on operating leases, for the flexibility to respond to demand. “We are accelerating our fleet transformation plan in anticipation of the strong recovery of air travel in the post-pandemic scenario,” chief executive Paulo Kakinoff states. “The 737 Max positions Gol to grow even more competitively with the expansion of routes to destinations, at the same time which provides efficiency gains, thus generating more value for all stakeholders of the company." The latest order will replace 23 737-800s in the airline's fleet by the end of 2022, and Gol expects the move to reduce that year's unit costs by 8%. The arrival of the new 737 Max jets allows Gol to accelerate the return of 737-700 and -800 aircraft on short-term leases, while retaining substantial flexibility to manage its fleet in close alignment with fluctuations in demand for air travel during the pandemic and eventually, post-pandemic. Besides the CASK reduction, the 28 aircraft are expected to generate approximately $200 million in capital and cash gains, the airline says. Gol currently operates 12 737 Max aircraft and returned 18 737NGs in the last 18 months.

CDB Aviation has delivered the first of 13 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft to United Airlines. The aircraft has been delivered under the purchase-and-leaseback transactions announced earlier in the year and in 2020, the Dublin-based lessor says. “We enthusiastically welcomed United to our increasing base of customers within the Americas and look forward to building a key strategic relationship," CDB Aviation chief commercial officer Peter Goodman says.

Thai AirAsia has further extended its suspension of all scheduled domestic flight operations to end August and put all employees on no-pay leave. The low-cost carrier had initially suspended domestic flights from 12 to 31 July, and later extended it to 8 August, to comply with the Thai government's Covid-19 movement restrictions. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has from 21 July suspended all flights to and from "dark red zones", which was expanded on 1 August to include Bangkok and 28 other provinces. "Despite our best efforts at mitigating these short-term effects, the situation has taken a turn for the worse and became more severe than we initially expected," Thai AirAsia says. The airline is putting all staff on leave without pay in August. Payment of July salaries will be deferred, in part or whole, to September. Thai AirAsia says it is "closely monitoring the situation and expects it will improve by September". "Salary payment to all employees shall be regularised once the funds become available and our operations reinstated," it adds. The airline says that Thailand's worsening Covid-19 pandemic situation has led to more stringent measures and restrictions on travel, which have "directly affected the airline business operations, especially in terms of liquidity and capital management of the company". "The company has been trying its level best to manage the situation, including by finding various sources of funds to improve liquidity." In July, the airline, together with six other Thai airlines, said they had petitioned the Thai government for Bt5 billion ($152 million) in low-interest loans, the latest in multiple attempts since April 2020, when they sought about Bt24 billion.