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 Business News | December 2005 
Mexican Discount Airline Orders 16 Airbus Planes
 Reuters
Mexico City - European aircraft maker Airbus said on Friday that Mexico's newly launched low-cost carrier Vuela ordered 16 planes to begin flying next year.
Vuela, partly owned by billionaire Carlos Slim and other low-cost airlines including Brazil's Gol, are gearing up to take advantage of an expected lift in competition in Mexico's airline industry as the government privatizes the country's two largest carriers.
"Vuela, a new Mexican company, ordered 16 A319s" in November, Airbus said in a report without divulging the price tag.
Slim, known in Latin America for his business savvy with investments, and broadcaster Televisa, said in July they would each take a 25 percent stake in newly-formed Vuela.
The short- to medium-range A319s ordered by Vuela have a 124-passenger capacity.
Last month the Mexican government agreed to sell its Mexicana airline to hotel chain Grupo Posadas, although it failed to find a buyer for No. 2 Mexican airline Aeromexico,
Mexicana said this week it is shopping for new wide-body aircraft as it prepares for direct flights to China in time for the 2008 Olympics.
Gearing up to fly to China directly will be a priority for Mexicana and Grupo Posadas, the company said.
Cintra, the holding company that controls Aeromexico, has suggested it might unload the remaining airline by selling its shares on the stock market. |
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