Russia signs $3.7B deal for 50 Boeing 737s

[September 17, 2010]  MOSCOW (AP) -- A Russian state-owned company says it will buy 50 new Boeing 737 Next Generation airliners in a deal worth $3.7 billion.

Russian Technologies, which manages the government's stakes in a dozen regional airlines, said in a statement Friday that the deal also includes an option for a further 35 jetliners.

A company official told The Associated Press the jets will be leased to Russia's biggest airline Aeroflot, where the government holds 51.2 percent.

The medium range jet will help Aeroflot upgrade its increasingly aging fleet.

[Associated Press]

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