On December 27, it emerged that Brazil's GOL Linhas Aéreas S.A., the parent company of Brazil's low-cost airlines GOL Transportes Aéreos S.A. and VRG Linhas Aéreas S.A., Latin America's largest 737 operator, had selected the Next-Generation 737 as a key element of its fleet renewal.

"GOL has garnered international attention by consistently posting profits since beginning operations, and the 737 has been a large part of that success," observed John Wojick, Boeing's vice president of sales for Latin America and the Caribbean.

He added:

"The Next-Generation 737 enables GOL to continue providing passengers reliable, on-time performance while benefiting from the airplane's reliability and fast airport turnaround times."

Then on December 31, Boeing announced that South Korea-based Jeju Air had ordered five Boeing Next-Generation 737-800s to meet future growth plans. The new planes are valued at US$370 million at list prices.

The 737s will be the first Boeing planes to enter the Jeju Air fleet. The airline currently operates five regional jets of smaller capacity.

Jeju Air, in a statement, expressed confidence that "the 737-800 aircraft exactly matches our long term growth requirements for our routes within Korea domestically and to Japan, China and other Asia Pacific regions".

"We also believe that Boeing's modern and enhanced aircraft and initial support will bring great benefits for Jeju Air," added the airline.

Then on Wednesday (January 2nd), the firm revealed that Vietnam Airlines and Vietnam Aircraft Leasing Co. (VALC) had finalized an order for a total of 12 Boeing 787-8s with a list value of approximately US$ 2 billion.

Vietnam Airlines will take four of the new aircraft and VALC will purchase the remaining eight Dreamliners, leasing them to Vietnam Airlines.

Also this week, Boeing and Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) announced that they had concluded all contractual obligations for the purchase of 100 aeroplanes, valued at $10.9 billion at average list prices.

DAE, a global aerospace, manufacturing and services corporation, and Boeing had previously signed a letter of intent at the Dubai Air Show in early November.

"This order marks a significant milestone in our relationship and strategic partnership with DAE," stated Marty Bentrott, Boeing's newly appointed vice president of Sales for the Middle East and Africa, continuing:

"We look forward to working closely with DAE as it takes delivery of a wide variety of advanced Boeing airplanes well into the next decade, and we're confident the performance of our airplanes will drive continued demand in the leasing market."