Airbus: Avianca firms up $11bn deal for 100 jets – Latin America’s largest ever order.
Avianca, the Colombian flag carrier and second largest in South America has signed a purchase agreement for 100 A320neo Family aircraft, the largest single order ever made in Latin America’s aviation history.
The agreement includes A319neo, A320neo and A321neo aircraft, the wings for the jets will be made here in Flintshire at the Broughton factory.
The deal, worth nearly $11 billion at current list prices, will allow Avianca to maintain one of the youngest fleets in the region as the airline aims to replace airplanes currently operating from their Bogota, Lima and San Salvador hubs.
“This historic order allows us to solidify our passenger experience strategy in local markets on a broader scale,” said Fabio Villegas Ramirez, Avianca Chief Executive Officer. “Thanks to the A320neo Family’s fuel efficiency, technical reliability and unique passenger comfort, we can further Avianca’s fleet modernization process, while connecting the region and supporting its development.”
“For over 15 years, Avianca has benefitted from the excellent operating economics and award-winning reliability of the A320 Family,” said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers. “The A320neo brings Avianca the highest efficiency at the lowest cost, making it ideally suited to operate within their network and especially within the region’s challenging airports.”
Established in Colombia in 1919, Avianca was the first airline in the Americas, and is the second oldest airline in the world.
To date, the A320neo program has 345 firm orders from six customers in Latin America — Avianca, Azul, Interjet, LATAM Airlines Group, VivaAerobus and Volaris.
With more than 950 aircraft sold and a backlog of nearly 500, more than 550 Airbus aircraft are in operation throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. In the last 10 years, Airbus has tripled its in-service fleet.
