ISTANBUL – Pablo Ceriani, President of Aerolíneas Argentinas, confirmed that the company is moving forward in the process of incorporating new aircraft, some to replace older models and others to add capacity in key markets.
In an interview conducted during the 79th Annual General Assembly of IATA taking place in Istanbul, Pablo Ceriani told Aviacionline that the choice of the Airbus A330neo is a done deal, and that they expect to launch an RFP (Request For Proposal) in about a month, with deliveries of four aircraft set to be realized between 2025 and 2026.
Considering that two A330-200s will be retired, the plan is to have 12 A330s (including the A330-200 and A330neo) that will be used to reinforce the capacity in current destinations like Rome, ruling out, at least for now, expanding the long-haul network (such as Auckland and Sydney, cities that we specifically asked about).
“We are working with Airbus on the aircraft configuration to choose the right one,” said Ceriani.
The replacement for the Embraer E190, as he had anticipated in February, will be the E195-E2, the largest version of the second generation of E-Jets, with a capacity for 132 passengers. The project is to initially incorporate 10 E195-E2s. “We are working hard with Embraer to move forward with this and we will probably finalize something soon,” Ceriani assured.
In parallel, over the next three years, another ten Boeing 737 MAX aircraft (in February he had mentioned that they were considering the 737-9 variant) would be arriving.
The incorporation of these new and more fuel-efficient aircraft, Ceriani noted, will contribute to making concrete steps in terms of sustainability and emissions reduction.
When asked about the feasibility of these projects in the face of a possible change of government and thus management of the company, Ceriani said that the current board has been working on documenting the justification for all decisions taken, leaving little room for too many alterations in Aerolíneas Argentinas’ business plan and thus ensuring continuity.
“Everything is done following industry practices and aiming to serve the market, and if we did not move forward in this direction we would run out of options to meet the demand that the company has, and any administration that comes will find the same reality, so there should not be significant changes,” he concluded on this topic.
