Allegiant to purchase jets recently owned by Iberia
Allegiant Travel Co. said on Thursday it would buy as many as nine Airbus A320s to expand its fleet.
The 177-seat jets, with an average age of 12 years old, were recently in the fleet of the struggling Spanish carrier Iberia.
Allegiant did not disclose the owner or the purchase terms, except to say money would be borrowed for the deal. Allegiant will buy the first seven planes next year, with two others in 2014. All nine would be flying, according to the current timetable, within two years.
The plan at this point does not call for retiring any of the MD-80s, now more than two decades old, to make way for the new planes, but they could supplant the MD-80s on certain flights.
The airline has boosted its estimated capital expenditure budget by $120 million next year. But according to a company spokesman, not all of that will result from the purchase price.
Contact reporter Tim O'Reiley at
toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.
