The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has signed a ¥12.7bn guarantee agreement with eight banks to help finance the import of Boeing planes from the US.

As part of the deal, which was penned on Friday, JBIC will support All Nippon Airways’ (ANA Holdings) acquisition of Boeing aircraft, by covering the principal and interest of loans the banks provide to the aviation firm.

JBIC says that MUFG is one of the signees, but a spokesperson refused to comment on the other banks involved.

ANA has received financing to help with the purchase of Boeing aircraft previously, with JBIC striking a much bigger guarantee arrangement worth ¥28.8bn with Mizuho Bank, the Bank of Nagoya and another unnamed bank in September 2019.

Meanwhile, in February last year, the export credit agency agreed a ¥24.7bn guarantee with 11 banks to help ANA obtain “financing from private financial institutions to import aircraft from the Boeing Company in the US”.

Since grounding its 737 Max planes in March last year, in the wake of two fatal crashes involving the model, Boeing has seen sales plummet, with the company reporting its first annual loss in more than two decades last week.

The US firm says it doesn’t expect the 737 Max to return to service until mid-2020.

Meanwhile sales for the final three months of last year were poor. The US$17.9bn it took in in revenues fell short of the US$21.7bn analysts had been expecting.