Colombia's Avianca has cancelled deliveries of 17 Airbus A320neo family aircraft from a 100-aircraft order signed in 2015, and rescheduled deliveries of another 35 jets.
The fleet changes will reduce Avianca's fleet capital expenditure needs by more than $350 million over the next three years, says the Star Alliance carrier. Financial commitments from 2020 to 2022 will also reduce by more than $2.6 billion.
The 35 rescheduled aircraft will now be delivered from 2026 to 2028, instead of 2020 to 2022.
Prior to the orderbook changes, Avianca had 20 A319neos, 92 A320neos and 15 A321neos on order, Cirium's Fleets Analyzer shows.
The airline operates three A320neos and two A321neos. It had an in-service fleet of 190 aircraft as of end-2018.
Under an updated fleet plan, Avianca will receive three aircraft this year, down from six originally. It will take delivery of six aircraft (down from 20) in 2020, four (down from 23) in 2021, and four (down from 20) in 2022.
In 2023 and 2024 respectively, Avianca will take delivery of 20 aircraft each year as originally planned. It will also stick to an earlier plan of taking delivery of 19 aircraft in 2025.
Avianca will accept 15 aircraft in 2026, 14 in 2027 and six in 2028.
The airline has said previously that it was in talks to defer up to 50 aircraft to free up cash and reduce debt. Avianca is also streamlining its fleet under a company-wide plan to improve profitability. It has said it will phase out its entire Embraer 190 fleet this year.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
