Qantas to make first biofuel flight
28th March 2012
LAN Airlines chief financial officer, Alejandro de la Fuente, has indicated the airline will buy between 15 and 20 Airbus 320-family aircraft for its expansion in Colombia after it acquires a 22% market share in Colombian airline Aires.
LAN’s Colombian strategy will follow its own business model that includes short-range domestic flights, regional connectivity and long-haul cargo and passenger flights.
By the end of the month the purchase of Aires will be completed. Its purchase of Columbian technical support firm Aeroasis will be finalised by the end of February if the necessary permits have been granted. “To complement the Boeing planes Aires already has, we’ll likely need to purchase between 15 and 20 Airbus 320-family aircraft,” de la Fuente said.
LAN already has 95 orders for Airbus A320 aircraft until 2016 and the 26 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners and plan to leasing a further six. Its total fleet will increase from 96 planes in 2009 to 176 in 2018.