Air Lease Corporation (ALC) announced long-term lease agreements for three new Airbus A321neo aircraft with LATAM Airlines. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery in the summer and fall of 2023, in line with ALC’s order backlog with Airbus.
«We are pleased to announce the long-term leases of three new Airbus A321neo aircraft to South America’s largest airline – LATAM Airlines,» said Steven Udvar-Házy, chief executive officer of Air Lease Corporation. «This is another important step in modernizing the fleet and optimizing LATAM’s network strategy.»
See also: LATAM Brazil to receive new Airbus A320neo after almost 3 years
According to aeronautical intelligence platform Ch-Aviation, the group has no Airbus A321neo currently, although it has a fleet of 49 Airbus A321ceo (18 at LATAM Chile and 31 at LATAM Brazil) with a 220- and 224-seat single-class configuration.
LATAM would be the fourth airline in South America to operate A321neo. SKY Airline has three aircraft, Azul has six, and JetSMART will soon receive its first. Avianca was the first South American operator but had to withdraw them in 2021 during its reorganization process.
See also: LATAM Group bets on renewal and acquires 28 new Airbus A320neo from factory
LATAM’s A321ceo destinations
According to Cirium platform, LATAM operates with its A321s only on the most demanded domestic routes with an offer of 5,345 flights and 1,175,900 seats per month.
As of June, A321s represent 15.3% of the Group’s flights, being the company’s third most important model. São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU) accounts for 46.6% of frequencies, followed by Santiago de Chile (SCL) with 31% and Fortaleza (FOR) closes the podium with 7.6% of operations.
See also: LATAM renewed the interiors of 100 Airbus A320s and A321s
The most used routes of the model are:
- São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU) – Porto Alegre (POA): 38 weekly flights.
- Santiago (SCL) – Iquique (IQQ): 36 per week.
- Santiago (SCL) – Antofagasta (ANF): 35 per week.
- Santiago (SCL) – Calama (CJC): 29 per week.
- São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU) – Fortaleza (FOR): 28 weekly flights.
Throughout its network it has a total of 1,270 weekly flights or 181 average daily flights.
