The Export-Import Bank of the United States (US Exim) has disbursed a loan for the purchase of five Boeing 737NG aircraft.

The export finance package is worth approximately US$200mn, a US Exim spokesperson has confirmed to GTR, and it’s estimated will support 1,400 jobs. The borrower is WestJet of Calgary in Canada.

In June, US Exim extended a US$130mn loan to Ethiopian Airlines to purchase Boeings. In March, it guaranteed a US$1.1bn Apple Bank loan to Lion Air in Indonesia to purchase a fleet and in April, it offered El Al Israel Airlines US$190mn in finance, again to buy Boeing aircraft.

The agency has been criticised in the past for offering too much public money for the purchase of Boeing aircraft. When quizzed by GTR, a US Exim spokesperson dismissed the criticism, pointing to the number of jobs the loans and guarantees helped support.