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Aviation enthusiasts in India will get an opportunity to spot another ‘bird’ in the sky this year. SpiceJet and Jet have ordered the newest and most technologically-advanced Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which is to be delivered in July-September .
And how do you identify the aircraft from the ground? “Its simple,” says Dinesh Keskar, Senior Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Asia Pacific and India, Boeing Commercial Aeroplane. “Look at the winglets. They go vertical and they are up and down. These are advanced-technology winglets. The engines of the MAX are bigger in diameter, but that is hard to figure out unless you are an expert in aviation.”
Those living close to airports will be able to identify the MAX because it makes less noise during take off and landing when compared toothers . The 737 MAX is designed to be 40 per cent quieter than today’s Next-Generation 737.
Features
These, however, are only two of the features that the latest single-aisle aircraft comes with. The four variants in the MAX family come with other attractive features – the 737 MAX 7 can seat between 138-153 passengers and fly a maximum range of 7,080 km, while the Boeing 737 MAX 10 can seat 184-204 passengers in a two-class configuration and do a maximum range of 5,990 km, with one auxiliary tank making it technically superior to the Boeing 737.
Among the MAX’s other features are those that are not visible to a watcher on the ground or even to flyers in the aircraft. For example, the pilot has a new larger updated flight deck, which uses the latest display technology. Thanks to the new, larger 15-inch screen, pilots get more information with less effort. The MAX is also capable of flying longer distances something which will benefit SpiceJet and Jet Airways when these aircraft become a part of their fleet.
Fuel efficiency
The MAX aircraft will allow both Jet and SpiceJet to fly longer distances from India. “The Next Generation was limited to six hours of flying, but because of its 14 per cent fuel efficiencywith the same wing and fuel means it can have a lot more fuel which increases the distance you can fly,” said Keskar explained at the Dubai Air Show.
So in a dual-class configuration, an airline can operate a 737-800 from Delhi to Beijing, but with the new 737 MAX, it can fly all the way to Bali. In effect what this means is that when Jet, which offers seats in business and economy on its Boeing aircraft, takes delivery of its MAX, it could potentially look at operating a Delhi to Beijing flight, while SpiceJet, which offers only economy seating on its Boeing aircraft, could look at operating between India and Bali.
Internationally the new aircraft is already flying in the colours of Dubai-based low-cost airline flydubai, the Malaysian airline Malindo and Singapore’s SilkAir. Malindo was the first airline to fly the MAX; the airline has purchased 230 aircraft and SilkAir first started using the aircraft on its Singapore-Hiroshima route, which is one of the longest routes that the airline operates.
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