OREANDA-NEWS. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Company, Limited, both subsidiaries of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG), and Sumitomo Corporation (SC), referred to collectively as "the Consortium", announce that SMBC Aviation Capital Limited, the world's third largest aircraft lessor, which is owned by the Consortium, has signed a contract with Boeing to purchase 80 737 MAX 8 aircraft. Those aircraft will be delivered between 2018 and 2022.

Boeing has confirmed that this order is the largest single 737 MAX 8 order ever placed by a lessor. The order should be taken as a clear sign of our commitment to the new generation aircraft, as well as our plans to continue to grow SMBC Aviation Capital.

Since June 2012 when the Consortium acquired SMBC Aviation Capital, our aim has been to capture the growing demand for new aircraft in emerging markets, in particular in Asia, by offering a broad range of higher-value-added financial services to airlines. In addition, we have been successful in leveraging the existing strengths of both SMFG and SC, which include a sound financial position, the capability to provide sophisticated financial solutions, a broad global client base, and advanced risk management practices. Today we are pleased to announce the order of 80 737 MAX 8s, which brings our total aircraft order for 2014 to 195. This is an important step forward on the path to realising the vision that we have for SMBC Aviation Capital.