Avianca firms up order for 100 A320neo Family aircraft

Order becomes largest in Latin America aviation history

Following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) announcement in February, Avianca has signed a purchase agreement for 100 A320neo Family aircraft, the largest single order ever made in Latin America’s aviation history. The agreement, which includes A319neo, A320neo and A321neo aircraft, 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. 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. This was the largest joint contract ever signed in Latin American commercial aviation history. To date, the Avianca airline group has ordered nearly 300 aircraft including 276 A320 Family (among them, 133 A320neo Family) and 15 A330 Family.  

The A320 Family is the world’s best-selling single aisle product line with more than 11,500 orders to date and over 6,400 aircraft delivered to 400 customers and operators worldwide. The newest member of the A320 Family, the A320neo, incorporates many innovations including latest generation engines and Sharklet wing tip devices, which together deliver more than 15 percent in fuel savings from day one and 20 percent by 2020. With more than 3,600 orders received from 70 customers since its launch in 2010, the A320neo Family has captured a solid 60 percent share of the market. 

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.

Airbus