Boeing awarded $249m

and

have announced that the Moscow-based carrier is the customer for four Next Generation 737-700s. The order, worth $249m at 2007 list prices, was listed as unidentified on Boeing's Orders & Deliveries Web site in 2006 and is accounted for in 2006 order totals.

Atlant-Soyuz is one of the largest charter carriers in Russia. Currently the airline offers scheduled domestic and international charter flights from its base airport, Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport.

‘The key factors in our purchase decision were the 737-700's superior range - enhanced further for Atlant-Soyuz with efficiency-enhancing Blended Winglets - and its industry-leading dispatch reliability,’ said Valery Menitsky, chairman of the board of directors of Atlant-Soyuz. Atlant-Soyuz recently added two leased 737 Classic airplanes to its fleet.

According to Boeing, more than 100 customers have ordered more than 4,000 Next-Generation 737s. Boeing has unfulfilled Next-Generation 737 orders in excess of 1,650 airplanes worth more than $118bn at current list prices.