After signing an MoU in February, Avianca has now firmed its order for 100 A320neo Family aircraft. This is the largest single aircraft order made in Latin America’s aviation history. The agreement, which includes A319neo, A320neo and A321neo aircraft, allows 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 CEO. “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.”
Established in Colombia in 1919, Avianca was the first airline in the Americas, and is the second oldest airline in the world. The Airbus-Avianca partnership was taken to a new level in 1998 when TACA (now part of Avianca), LAN, and TAM placed a joint order for 90 single-aisle aircraft. At that time, this was the largest joint contract ever signed in Latin American commercial aviation history. To date, the Avianca group has ordered nearly 300 aircraft including 276 A320 Family (among them, 133 A320neo Family) and 15 A330 Family.
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, while delivering more than 60 percent of all aircraft operating in the region.
