Airbus announced on Monday that Chilean ultra-low-cost carrier SKY has signed a purchase agreement for 10 A321XLRs. The airline will deploy the new aircraft as they expand their international network.
Airbus once again expanded their 2019 order book with a purchase agreement from Chilean ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) SKY Airlines. The ULCC is looking to expand their international network with the “extra long range” aircraft which can fly 4,700 nautical miles. An evolutionary market-driven advance of the A320neo/A321neo family, the A321XLR promises a 30% reduction in fuel consumption per seat along with an unprecedented range for a narrow body aircraft. Compared to previous generation competing aircraft, the fuel savings of the A321XLR allows airlines to open routes that were not economically feasible in the past. In Monday’s announcement, SKY’s Chief Executive Officer, Holger Paulmann said,
“This new aircraft fleet will allow us to expand our offer of international and wide-ranging routes, always under our successful low cost model and its extremely convenient ticket prices. Now passengers can enjoy new and very attractive destinations on the most modern airplanes in the market.”
Airbus’ President – Latin America, Arturo Barreira added,
“We are delighted that that SKY has selected the A321XLR to further expand its fleet of all Airbus aircraft. The A321XLR will allow SKY to offer its customers new destinations, such as direct flights from Santiago in Chile to Miami in the U.S.”
Airbus’ latest Global Market Forecast (GMF) predicts that Latin America will require around 2,700 new aircraft over the next 20 years. Traffic in Latin America has doubled since 2002 and the GMF also predicts the need to train 47,550 pilots and 64,160 new technicians in the region over the next two decades. Accordingly, the company has opened the ‘Airbus Chile Training Centre’ and SKY will become the launch customer for crew training at the new facility.
An Airbus customer since 2010, SKY transitioned to an all-Airbus fleet in 2013 and now operates 23 A320 Family aircraft. The airline serves domestic routes in Chile and connects the country with international service to Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay. Airbus has sold over 1,200 aircraft in the Latin American market with 700 currently in operation and a backlog of 600 additional aircraft. The European consortium holds a 60% market share of in-service aircraft in the region along with 70% of net orders.
Source: Airbus