Avianca seeks to cut Airbus order as much as half: CEO

Airline Avianca Holdings will begin negotiations with Airbus to reduce the 100 planes it had agreed to purchase in a 2015 deal to as few as 50, the CE of the Latin American company said. Avianca was also seeking a strategic alliance with Lufthansa, CEO Hernan Rincon said Sunday, part of its bid to expand in Europe. Avianca representatives will travel to France in the coming days for re-negotiations with Airbus, Rincon said. Avianca had agreed to buy 100 A320neo planes to modernize its fleet. “Of those 100, we’ll probably receive between 50 and 80 planes,” he said. “We don’t have any doubt that we will keep growing, what has changed is the rhythm of the growth.” Technological advancement is part of the reason for the airline wanting to reduce its purchases, Rincon added. “The rhythm of technology is changing, it will take a while to get all of the order and we don’t want to have a commitment to planes with today’s technology which will be received by us in 10 or 15 years,” he said. A reduction in the original order, which was set to cost $10b, will also give Avianca some financial breathing room, Rincon added.<br/>