International Airlines Group, the British Airways’ parent company, has signaled an expansion of its short-haul capability with an order for up to 220 aircraft.
Up to 120 of the Airbus A320 aircraft have been allocated to Spanish budget airline Vueling, but the remainder have yet to be apportioned to BA or Iberia, IAG’s mainline carriers. The Vueling order, which comprises 62 aircraft on firm order and 58 options, will be delivered to the Barcelona-based airline between 2015 and 2020 for fleet expansion and replacement. However, an IAG spokeswoman said the remaining options could be for any of its brands at a later date.
“We are not going into those details,” she said, adding that delivery dates confirmed were only for the firm orders.
IAG chief executive Willie Walsh said: "Vueling has managed to successfully expand its business profitably by targeting both growth markets and those areas where weak competitors are reducing capacity. These new aircraft will enable Vueling to continue that expansion and replace some of its older fleet with modern, fuel efficient aircraft, leading to further unit cost reductions.”
The Vueling firm orders are subject to approval by IAG's shareholders. They will be reviewed alongside the recent IAG long-haul aircraft purchases for Boeing 787s and Airbus A350s at a shareholder meeting later this year.