OREANDA-NEWS. July 10, 2012. GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), the commercial aircraft leasing and financing arm of General Electric (NYSE: GE), announced today at the Farnborough International Airshow a commitment to purchase 75 737 MAX 8s and 25 Next-Generation 737-800s from Boeing (NYSE: BA).

"GECAS is a leader in the airplane leasing and financing industry with a successful track record of placing 737 with airlines worldwide," said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. "The GECAS leadership team understands the importance of having advanced, fuel-efficient airplanes to meet their customers' needs. This commitment confirms the value of the 737 MAX in today’s competitive marketplace.”

The 737 MAX is a new-engine variant of the world's best selling airplane and builds on the strengths of today's Next-Generation 737. The 737 MAX incorporates the latest-technology CFM International LEAP-1B engines to deliver the highest efficiency, reliability and passenger comfort in single-aisle aircraft.

“The 737 MAX is a perfect complement to our airplane portfolio,” said Norman C.T. Liu, President and CEO of GECAS. “These new Next-Generation 737 and 737 MAX airplanes will continue our long-standing strategy of providing our customers the most fuel efficient, most capable airplanes with the lowest operating costs."

Airlines operating the 737 MAX will see a 13 percent fuel burn improvement over today's most fuel efficient single-aisle airplanes and an 8 percent operating cost per seat advantage over tomorrow's competition.