Preparing For Life After Varig?

Brazilian carrier TAM S.A. announced Thursday it has signed a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) to acquire 37 additional Airbus aircraft.

The order includes 15 Airbus A319s, 16 A320s, and 6 widebody A330s to be delivered until 2010. The new order is in addition to a 2005 order for 29 A320 to be delivered during the same period and the option of another 20 aircraft of the same models.

"The decision is aligned with our proposal to be a low cost company with differentiated services and competitive prices," said TAM CEO Marco Antonio Bologna. "The increase in traffic density justifies that we operate larger aircraft, which will also result in a lower cost per available seat kilometer (CASK)."

TAM is the largest Airbus operator in Latin America, currently with 64 aircraft (41 A320, 13 A319 and 10 A330). The airline will use the new narrowbodies to replace its current fleet of 100 seat Fokker 100 jets.

TAM cites Brazil's strong domestic air travel market as the reason for the order... of which the carrier's share may grow even larger, if rival Varig goes out of business.

Including this latest order, TAM says it expects its fleet to grow to a minimum of 96 airplanes by the end of 2006.

FMI: www.airbus.com, www.tamairlines.com