NordStar Airlines, a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Russian mining and smelting corporation MMC Norilsk Nickel, has signed for operational lease of three new Boeing 737МАХ-8 aircraft from the US Aviation Capital Group, Russian Aviation Insider’s sister publication ATO.ru reports.

First of the newest narrowbodies in two-class configuration are scheduled for delivery in April with the remaining two to follow in June 2019.

Acquisition of the 737MAXs is part of a fleet renewal plan, they are intended as a replacement for three Boeing 737-800s built in 1998 and 1999.

NordStar is poised to become among the first operators of the new narrow-body type in Russia and the CIS region, following launch operator Kazakhstan’s SCAT Airlines.

NordStar Airlines is Russia’s 15th carrier by passenger traffic. Between January and August 2018 it carried 1 million passengers, showing just a slight growth over the same period of last year.