The South American carrier Avianca has confirmed its order for 88 new A320neo aircraft from Airbus. Additionally, the airline has purchase options for an additional 50 planes.

Avianca’s growing fleet

Avianca currently has a fleet of 143 aircraft, operating with its branches in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and El Salvador, according to data provided by ch-aviation. The airline has 122 narrowbody, 12 widebody commercial passenger aircraft, and seven cargo planes. Avianca has the third-largest fleet in Latin America, behind LATAM Airlines Group and Azul.

In terms of orders, Avianca has two undelivered Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, which should arrive in the company in 2024. Its more significant order, though, is with Airbus.

In a statement, Avianca confirmed its commitment to order 88 new Airbus A320neo family aircraft from the European manufacturer. The agreement also includes a purchase option for an additional 50 aircraft. The order and confirmations are in line with Avianca’s business plan that includes the operation of more than 200 primarily point-to-point routes and more than 130 aircraft by 2025.

The South American airline exited a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding in 2021 and is now ready to implement its reorganization plan; it will try to offer the best of the low-cost and legacy models into one company.

Avianca will receive its 138 new aircraft on order between 2025 and 2031, said the airline.

The benefits

Rohit Philip, Avianca’s Chief Financial Officer, said,

"This is great news for our company, our people, and our customers, considering that the A320neo family is the most advanced single-aisle fleet in terms of efficiency, reliability, and comfort. This order highlights that we continue to make the required investments to grow our network in line with our business plan”.

Avianca’s new A320neo fleet will offer three types of seats: premium, plus, and economy. Currently, Avianca is reconfiguring more than 90 narrowbody aircraft, installing new plus and economy seats. According to the airline, 26 A320s already have this seat configuration and are used in domestic flights throughout South America. By the end of this year, the reconfiguration process will be complete.

Moreover, Avianca’s A320neos will use approximately 20% less fuel and reduce up to 900 tons of CO2 emitted per year.

Aircraft growth in Latin America

Airbus has the largest number of unfilled orders in Latin America. According to the OEM itself, it has around 60% of the future deliveries in the region. Avianca is one of Airbus’ largest customers (the number one is the Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris).

According to data provided by ch-aviation, there are 631 commercial aircraft on order in Latin America and the Caribbean by 15 airlines.

Boeing has orders from Aerolíneas Argentinas, Aeroméxico, Araejet, Avianca, Caribbean Airlines, Copa Airlines, GOL Linhas Aereas, and LATAM. In total, Boeing has to deliver 184 aircraft.

Meanwhile, Airbus has orders from Avianca, Azul, JetSMART, LATAM, Sky Airline, Viva Aerobus, and Volaris. It has to deliver 386 aircraft in the coming years.

Finally, Embraer has 54 aircraft on order from Azul. The Brazilian OEM also has an order for ten KC-390 aircraft with the Brazilian Air Force.

Are you excited about Avianca’s new narrowbody fleet and seat configuration? Have you had the opportunity to try the airline’s new plus and economy seats? Let us know in the comments below.