Avianca plans order for 'hundreds' of new narrowbodies
Latin American airline group Avianca plans to place an order for "hundreds" of new narrowbodies, and is studying the Boeing 737 Max and Airbus A320neo families.
The airline wants to use the aircraft for both growth and replacement, Avianca chief executive Fabio Villegas told Flightglobal today at the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Nassau.
Asked how many aircraft Avianca plans to order, he says: "It will be a significant number, in the hundreds." Avianca operates 94 A320-family aircraft, its website indicates.
Villegas says Avianca will require aircraft deliveries from 2019 onwards, and is eyeing jets with 120 to 180 seats. He declines to specify when the airline will make a final decision on the order.
Even though Avianca is not currently a 737 operator, Villegas says that does not rule out the Boeingnarrowbody.
"Both airplanes can fulfil our mission," says Villegas, adding that Avianca's decision will boil down to the economics and pricing offered by the airframers.
Van Rex Gallard, Boeing's vice-president of sales for Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean, is confident that the 737 Max has better economics and would be a better fit for Avianca, he told Flightglobal earlier this month.
Latin American airline group Avianca now expects delivery of its first Boeing 787-8 in the first week of December, and hopes to put it in commercial service by year-end.
The Star Alliance carrier said earlier this year it would take delivery of the aircraft in September, but certain procedures have held up the delivery, Avianca chief executive Fabio Villegas told Flightglobal at the ALTA Airline Leaders Forum in Nassau today.
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