Spanish airline group Marsans will use the order it placed earlier this month for 61 Airbuses - including four A380s - to build a transatlantic multi-carrier network around hubs in Madrid, Barcelona and Buenos Aires.
The surprise order, which also includes 42 A320 family aircraft, five A330s and 10 A350s, makes Marsans the launch customer for the A380 in the Spanish-Latin American region. According to a senior Marsans source, the order will be distributed between Air Comet and Marsans-controlled Aerolineas Argentinas.
"The new aircraft are essential for our commitment to develop Barcelona as Spain's second intercontinental hub and, in addition to Madrid, as Europe's second big gateway to Latin America."
The A380 will serve routes to Mexico and Sâo Paulo, but will be focused on the Madrid-Buenos Aires route. "The Madrid-Buenos Aires route is currently becoming something close to an air shuttle and the A380 will allow us to offer the most attractive product in the market," says the source.
The source sees the order as a first step to globalise the carrier's network, currently focused on the South Atlantic routes, through the addition of Asian and US flights.
Marsans, which controls Spanish carrier Air Comet, is also in the bidding to buy Spanair, and the A320 ordered could be deployed with these two airlines or to create a network to compete with the Spanish airliner should it go to another bidder.
The aircraft could also be used by Marsans for the renewal of its South American narrowbody fleets with Aerolineas Argentinas, Austral and Air Comet Chile.
Source: Flight International
