Guy Norris/RIO DE JANEIRO
Brazilian flag carrier Varig is converting outstanding orders for 14 Boeing 737-300s into Next Generation -700 and -800 models and may eventually buy up to 32 aircraft as part of plans to increase the operational flexibility of its fleet.
The bulk of the initial aircraft are expected to be larger -800 models, with the first batch of five due for delivery in 1999. The second batch of five -800s will follow in 2000, with the first of four -700s expected at the end of 1999, says president Fernando Pinto. The airline now operates 27 737-300s, but announced the order switch recently when the -700 was taken to South America on a demonstration tour.
Boeing says that the formal conversion of the order has not yet been finalised, but says: "Varig has declared its intention to convert those orders." Pinto says that the decision to opt for the newer models was taken because "they offer a lot of items - better operating costs, higher altitude cruise, longer range and greater speed". The increased flexibility of the longer- range aircraft, and particularly the higher payload -800s, also fits into the airline's revised international strategy as a new member of the Star Alliance.
Pinto also says that the airline is "quite interested" in the recently launched 767-400ER, for which Delta Air Lines is now the only customer. Varig operates six 767-200ERs and four -300ERs and is hunting for a long-term successor to its ageing McDonnell Douglas DC-10 -30s. The plan is to expand the 767-300 fleet, but Pinto says that the higher payload potential of the -400ER could change this.
The aircraft is "more likely" to be in the Boeing777/Airbus A340 class than that of the Airbus A3XX, he adds. Although Varig disposed of its Boeing 747-400s in 1994/5, and has deferred delivery of its six outstanding orders, the airline still operates five 747-300s.
Source: Flight International
