I don’t think this order is going to surprise anyone, but it is still interesting.
IB have just announced that they are going to acquire 30 new airbus narrow bodies with a further 49 on option. The aircraft are to be delivered between 2006 and 2011.
It is interesting to note that this order includes the A318 which has not been selling all that well. The firm orders are for fifteen A318s, nine A320s and six A321s hence totalling 30 planes on firm order.
The planes are to replace nineteen MD-87, thirteen MD-88, seven B757 and one A320 (their oldest).
While the catalogue price is over $4,500 million, Iberia says they got a “important discount”. The euro-dollar exchange rates (planes are priced in dollars) and the low interest rates give this deal some more advantages, says Iberia.
No engine choise has yet been made. Their current fleet of A320s is powered by CFM engines so they would be the most likely supplier.
http://grupo.iberia.es/ingles/prensa/noticias/ficheros/47-Renovacion%20flota%20ingles.doc
By: Grey Area - 15th June 2005 at 07:26
so perhaps MAN will see the A318 acting as a feeder.
Iberia don’t serve MAN at all these days, Shamrock.
By: MD-80 - 15th June 2005 at 00:44
There are rumours that Iberia could transfer their MD-80´s to a “subsidiary” (even the five MD-87´s) leased to Spanair.
Iberia never encountered severe headache with their MD-80´s and I simply love those wonderfully designed aircraft in the classic livery of Iberia.
The charme of the MD-80 thrills me everytime.
The order for the A318 by Iberia is rather strange. The empty weight of the A318 is very much higher than an empty MD-80! The A318 is (I think) in no way really suited for shorthaul-routes. The A318 is (in it´s current configuration) only a 100-seater because of it´s size but not operationally.
The A318 is a dubble-shrink of the A320 and this can´t be the wisest solution for an aircraft looking like a 100-seater.
The MD-87 can not be purely claimed as a shortened MD-80. It´s in another way a stretched DC-9-40 and only a little bit smaller than the DC-9-50 with all refinements of the MD-80.
Because the MD-80series is based on the DC-9-10, every variant of the DC-9 (except the DC-9-20) and MD-80 are stretched versions of this baseline-model.
And the decision of Iberia in December 1987 to order 17 MD-87´s (a follow-on order for 7 more MD-87´s came later) was based on Iberia´s very good experience with their DC-9´s.
Thank you very much
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February 26, 2005 at 2:11 am