Sixteen months after Airbus delivered the first A320neo to Lufthansa, Boeing has officially handed over the first aircraft from its competing 737 MAX family. The aircraft, a 737 MAX 8, was handed over to Malindo Air at the Seattle Delivery Center on 16th May. The Malaysia-based airline will be the first to put the 737 MAX into commercial service.

In addition to the 737 MAX 8, which seats 162 passengers in a typical two-class configuration, the Boeing 737 MAX family also includes the MAX 7 (138 passengers) and the MAX 9 (178 passengers). All three versions are powered by LEAP-1B engines from GE-Safran joint venture CFM International.

The family could be extended to include a hypothetical MAX 10, a stretched variant currently being studied by Boeing but not yet officially launched.

Malindo Air was created in 2013 as a joint venture between Indonesia’s Lion Air — which has 200 737 MAX aircraft on order — and a Malaysian group called National Aerospace and Defense Industries, which holds 51% of the JV. Hence the name, a combination of MALaysia and INDOnesia. The new aircraft carries the livery of Batik Malaysia, the brand used for the company’s international operations.