Brazilian airline magnate German Efromovich said on Thursday he was in talks with Airbus and another aircraft maker to buy around 50 more planes, mainly for Avianca's fleet in Brazil.
Efromovich owns Colombian airline Avianca, and controls AviancaTaca, a tie-up with El Salvador's Taca. He said the planned purchases were part of the group's more than USD$7 billion, five-year fleet plan.
"We are at a point at which we should place an order with one of the plane makers for Avianca Brazil," Efromovich said in the Chilean capital, Santiago.
"We are in negotiations, but we haven't closed a deal with either of the two," he added, confirming Airbus was one of the two.
AviancaTaca signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase 18 Airbus A320 and 33 A320neo aircraft at the Paris Air Show on Wednesday, worth a total USD$4.5 billion. Efromovich said the purchase of new planes for Avianca's fleet in Brazil would be "almost" the same size.
Efromovich added that the AviancaTaca group would definitely push ahead with a New York listing within two years.
