Boeing Delivers 500th 737 with Boeing Sky Interior

Boeing has delivered the 500th 737 to feature the company’s Boeing Sky Interior, as the new 737 interior design marks its second anniversary in service.

The milestone Boeing 737-800 containing the 500th 737 Boeing Sky Interior was delivered to Newport Beach, California-based leasing company Aviation Capital Group (ACG). Panama-based Copa Airlines will lease and operate the new aircraft.

On November 2, 2012, approximately two years after the first Boeing 737 featuring the new Boeing Sky Interior was delivered, Boeing delivered the 500th 737 with a Boeing Sky Interior installed. The customer was leasing company Aviation Capital Group, which leased the 737-800 in question to Panama’s Copa Airlines

Since the first delivery of a 737NG with a Boeing Sky Interior in October 2010, 65 airlines and leasing companies have ordered the new interior.

“Being part of this significant milestone for the 737 Boeing Sky Interior is a fantastic opportunity,” said Pedro Heilbron, CEO of Copa Airlines. “With its continuous innovations, the Next-Generation 737-800 not only benefits Copa with its unmatched operating costs, but the Boeing Sky Interior also provides a welcoming and unique flying experience.”

Copa Airlines operates a fleet of 85 jets – 20 Boeing 737-700s, 39 Boeing 737-800s and 26 Embraer 190 jets – and has another 49 Boeing 737-800 single-aisle jets on order.

Since ordering its first Boeing 737-800 on August 26, 2002, Copa Airlines’ orderbook for the model, from Boeing and leasing companies, has grown to 88 aircraft. Copa Airlines and its subsidiary in Colombia also operate 20 Boeing 737-700s and 26 Embraer 190s. This large fleet is enabling fast-growing Copa to create hub-and-spoke networks linking many major Latin American, Caribbean and North American destinations via Copa’s hubs at Panama City and Bogota

The airline has chosen the Boeing Sky Interior on all the Boeing jets its has received ever since it was the first carrier in Latin America to take delivery of the new interior in March 2011.

According to Boeing, two operators with Boeing Sky Interiors recently conducted passenger surveys that reinforced a substantial, noticeable preference for the new interior.

Norwegian Air Shuttle found that more than 60 per cent of respondents rate the Boeing Sky Interior (BSI) more comfortable than the standard interior. The same percentage of passengers ‘felt happier’. Transavia, a Netherlands-based airline, also recently revealed its findings.

Boeing’s 737 Boeing Sky Interior marked its 200th-delivery milestone on December 19, 2011 with a delivery to Scandinavian customer Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA. This was the airline’s 18th Next-Generation 737-800 with the new interior. Norwegian Air Shuttle was one of the launch customers for the 737 Boeing Sky Interior and was the first airline in Europe to introduce the new interior to its passengers

“In our passenger surveys we have measured a significant improvement in the overall cabin experience by the new Boeing Sky Interior,” said Bram Graber, managing director of Transavia.com. “Also, our crew appreciates their new working environment. The BSI is smartly designed and we are very satisfied with the introduction in our fleet.”

The 737 Boeing Sky Interior features new modern sculpted sidewalls and window reveals, LED lighting that enhances the sense of spaciousness and larger pivoting overhead stowage bins.

More than 90 per cent of Boeing’s backlog of more than 2,800 Next-Generation 737s will be delivered with the Boeing Sky Interior.

The Boeing Sky Interior will be standard on the new Boeing 737 MAX family, which is due to enter service in 2017.