Aircraft upsizing trend continues in the region

LATAM commits to A350-1000

In addition to taking delivery of the first A350-900 in the Americas at the end of 2015, LATAM also committed to the largest member of the A350 XWB family by converting 12 A350-900s into A350-1000s.

By joining airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways and United Airlines, LATAM is continuing a general trend to upsize aircraft. With 40 more seats and 350 miles more range, the A350-1000 offers the same levels of passenger comfort and the same operational characteristics as the A350-900 and all with 95 percent spares commonality.

It is not only the large twin-aisle aircraft that are experiencing this trend. Airbus is seeing a very real upsizing trend in the single-aisle market with airlines moving from the A319 to the A320 and from the A320 to the A321. The trend is so strong that in the near future almost 50 percent of all new A320 family aircraft deliveries will be A321s.

In Latin America, airlines such as Avianca, Azul, LATAM and Volaris have already committed to the largest member of the A320 family and Airbus expects many more to follow.

So what is driving this trend? Moving to larger aircraft is the easiest and most cost efficient way to grow an airline while at the same time addressing increasing airport and airspace congestion issues. Innovation is also playing its part; the double-digit fuel burn savings of the A321neo means many routes that were previously beyond the range of the A321 can now be operated economically. Greater payloads can also be flown from challenging airports in the region thanks to the improved take-off performance of the new generation aircraft.

And as recently seen in Mexico, the ultimate upsizing to the A380 has already started in Latin America - long may it continue.

For more information:
Paul Moultrie, Head of Airline Marketing, Latin America & Caribbean
paul.moultrie@airbus.com