IAG has shuffled the delivery schedule of new twin-aisle aircraft, having previously indicated that it was reviewing its long-haul fleet development.
The company states that it has outstanding commitments to 43 Airbus A350s, among them 18 A350-1000s, for delivery in 2018-22. It is also taking 18 Boeing 787s – including 12 of the new 787-10 – over 2017-21.
IAG had disclosed last November that it was reviewing the long-haul fleet plan and, during the company’s full-year briefing on 24 February, chief financial officer Enrique Dupuy said negotiations with Airbus and Boeing had been a “full success”.
Dupuy says the talks were “not about cancellations” but about “moving the pattern of deliveries” for the A350s and the 787-10s.
“We have achieved our goals,” he says. “We’re now confident in the numbers, the figures and the timing.”
The airline’s delivery commitments also include five A330s for 2017-18 as well as, on the single-aisle side, 89 A320s and 17 A321s for 2017-19.
IAG says it will take a total of nine aircraft in each of 2017 and 2022, and an average of 38 aircraft for each of the intervening four years from 2018 to 2021.
“Expected net capital expenditure by year follows the pattern of the fleet deliveries,” it says.
IAG has been looking to limit its capital expenditure and, last November, disclosed a tighter long-term planning target of €1.7 billion per year.
Last year IAG received 11 new aircraft: two Airbus A380s and two Boeing 787-9s, plus four A330s and three A320-family jets.
This expenditure was partly offset by just under €1.6 billion in proceeds from the sale and leaseback of 26 new aircraft – including nine 787-9s, eight A330s and nine A320-family jets.
The company also gained proceeds from sale and leaseback of 12 owned A319s. It says these were divested to reduce residual value risk.
IAG’s overall net capital expenditure for 2016 reached €1.3 billion, a reduction of €466 million on the previous year, and well within the revised planning target.
Chief executive Willie Walsh, speaking during the full-year briefing, said the company still saw “good opportunities” for leasing second-hand aircraft for its long-haul fleet.
He points out that leased A330s had previously been considered, but that the need for longer range offered by the 242t take-off weight version of the twinjet “convinced” the company to opt for new-build jets.
“That was the deciding factor,” he says. Walsh states that IAG is “not against” taking second-hand long-haul aircraft but says: “The rate of expansion of the long-haul fleet doesn’t support us doing anything right now.”
Source: Cirium Dashboard
