LATAM Airlines has taken delivery of their first Airbus A321neo on lease from AerCap, and has also placed an incremental order for an additional 13 A321neos. This is the first delivery of an order backlog of 76 of the aircraft type.
On Monday (October 2, 2023), Airbus announced that LATAM Airlines has taken delivery of their first Airbus A321neo on lease from AerCap. The carrier has also placed an incremental order for 13 additional A321neos, bringing their total order backlog for the type to 76 aircraft. In total, LATAM has 111 Airbus A320 Family aircraft on order. LATAM’s new A321neo can accommodate 224 passengers and features Airbus’ Airbus Airspace XL bins in the cabin, offering 40 percent more storage space and accommodations for 60 percent more carry-on bags. The newly delivered A321neo’s ferry flight from Hamburg was operated with 49 percent SAF.
In Monday’s announcement, LATAM Airlines Group’s Chief Financial Officer, Ramiro Alfonsín, said,
“Our fleet renewal and modernization strategy is fully aligned with our sustainability commitment and brings us closer to the goal of becoming a carbon-neutral group by 2050. We will continue to work on enhancing the current fleet with next-generation aircraft to further improve our connectivity while caring for the environment.”
Also commenting on the A321neo delivery and incremental order, Airbus’ Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International, Christian Scherer, said,
“We thank LATAM for their continued confidence in our aircraft, reselecting the A321neo for its continued network growth. This strategic move also accelerates LATAM decarbonisation trajectory as the A321neos are at least 20% more fuel-efficient, emitting 20% less CO2 and 50% less noise compared to previous generation aircraft.”
The Airbus A321neo is the largest member of Airbus’ best selling A320 Family, and allows operators to cover the entire market, while offering the lowest cost per seat mile of any available single-aisle aircraft. To date, Airbus has won orders for over 5,200 A321neos from customers worldwide.
LATAM Airlines Group S.A. is the leading airline group in Latin America, offering service in five domestic markets (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) as well as international service within Latin America and to Europe, Oceania, the United States and the Caribbean. The airline will also resume service between São Paulo and Johannesburg in mid-2023. The Group operates a fleet of Boeing 767, 777, and 787s, as well as Airbus A319, A320, A320neo, A321 and A321neo aircraft. LATAM Cargo Chile, LATAM Cargo Colombia and LATAM Cargo Brazil are the LATAM Airlines freight subsidiaries. In addition to passenger aircraft belly hold cargo capacity, the Group operates a fleet of 18 dedicated freighters, which will be expanded to 20 by 2024.
Source(s): Airbus, LATAM Airlines Group