MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lan confirms purchase of 25 Airbus 318 and 319

European aircraft builder Airbus reported Tuesday that Chile's LAN Airlines confirmed the purchase of 25 planes from its A320 family plus options on an additional 15 aircraft. Deliveries will begin in 2006.

Chile's flag carrier now has a total Airbus order backlog of 36 aircraft and the new planes will replace its fleet of ageing Boeing 737-200 jets.

The additional planes will be powered by the V2500-A5 engine of International Aero Engines -- a company owned by Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce Plc, Aero Engines Corp of Japan and MTU Aero Engines.

LAN unveiled its intention to order the Airbus aircraft in late June and said the 25 planes represented a list value of 750 million US dollars.

The A 318 and A 319 models will be used mainly in domestic flights in Chile, Peru and Argentina. LAN said last week passenger traffic rose 15.4% in September from the same month last year, because of booming international travel.

LAN is the best managed and one of the leading airlines in Latin America with affiliates in Peru, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Argentina. The company currently has 19 Airbus 319 and 320.