Milan-Based Airline to Lease Two Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners

International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) is to lease two Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners to the Italian carrier Neos.

Based at Milan Malpensa Airport in northern Italy, Neos will become the country's first 787 operator when it takes delivery of the airplane in 2018.

Neos currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of six Next-Generation 737-800s and two 767-300ER (Extended Range) airplanes. The airline will use the 787s to expand its route network.

"With the 787s, we will continue to deliver our passengers the best travel experience in the industry – just as we have been doing since 2002 with the delivery of our first new Boeing 737-800," said Carlo Stradiotti, chief executive officer of Neos SpA. "This deal is possible because of the excellent work performed by our colleagues in the last 12 years of operations and because Neos is a part of the Alpitour Group, the most important and best integrated tourism group in the country."

Italy plays a key role in the production of the 787, with Boeing supplier Alenia Aermacchi's factories in Grottaglie (Taranto), Foggia and Pomigliano (Naples) producing the central fuselage and horizontal stabilizer for the Dreamliner.

"We are delighted to count Neos, an all-Boeing carrier, as our first Italian 787 operator," said Todd Nelp, vice president of European Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "Neos' passengers will get to experience the Dreamliner's revolutionary interior with its bigger windows, modern LED lighting, higher humidity and lower cabin altitude."

Founded in 2001, Neos caters to Italy's leisure market providing flights predominately from Milan, but also other major Italian cities, to destinations across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.