Colombian flag carrier, Avianca, orders 19 additional Airbus aircraft

Toulouse: Colombia's national flag carrier, Avianca, has signed a firm contract for 19 additional Airbus aircraft, of which 14 are A320 Family aircraft and five A330-200s. This additional order converts options, and brings the total number of firm orders from Avianca up to 57 Airbus aircraft.

"With this addition to our initial order, Avianca is consolidating its fleet expansion programme. The first order was mainly for our current fleet renewal, whereas this second one is to deal with growth opportunities," said German Efromovich, president of the Synergy Group, which owns Avianca.

Avianca is Colombia's largest airline and is also the second oldest commercial airline in the world.

"We are pleased to see the confidence of the Synergy Group, owner of Avianca, in Airbus and its products with this second order in such short time" said John Leahy, Airbus chief operating officer, customers, "We are thankful for this endorsement and we look forward to seeing our aircraft fly the skies in Avianca's colours."

Including this order, Airbus has received a total of 390 orders from 16 airlines in Latin America. Since 1990 Airbus has taken 54 per cent of all Latin American orders for new aircraft. Furthermore, Airbus has tripled its presence in Latin America over the last seven years.

The A320 Family, recognized as the benchmark single-aisle aircraft family, also includes the A318, the A319 and A321 versions.