Latin American Airline LATAM Orders 17 A321neo Jets From Airbus

London — Latin American airline LATAM has ordered 17 A321neo medium-haul jets from Airbus, according to a statement by the European aircraft manufacturer on Thursday.

The A321neo is the longest-fuselage aircraft of the Airbus A320 family, seating 180 to 220 passengers in a typical two-class interior layout.

LATAM has also agreed to strengthen its fleet with the long-haul version of the jet, which took off for its maiden flight in mid-June, but did not say how many it plans to acquire.

Airbus made the announcement during the Farnborough Airshow in Britain. This is the first major show in the industry since the coronavirus pandemic started and it has so far been paltry in terms of new orders for the aircraft manufacturer.US carrier Delta ordered 12 small A220s on Tuesday, while British budget airline EasyJet signed an already disclosed order for 56 aircraft.

Before the pandemic, Airbus would typically receive hundreds of orders during the trade exhibition outside of London.

Another deal signed at the show was between Qatar Airways and US manufacturer Boeing for the already announced order of 25 737 MAX medium-haul jets.

Qatar plans to use the 737 MAX 10 long-wing aircraft as an alternative to Airbus A321neo planes after the European manufacturer cancelled a large order of 50 aircraft placed by the airline.

Airbus is being sued by Qatar Airways for surface damage to the wide-body jet A350.The airline therefore signed a preliminary contract with Boeing for 25 737 MAX aircraft and secured options for a further 25 aircraft, which still lacks regulatory certification. Boeing hopes to obtain it by the end of the year. Otherwise, the manufacturer would need an exemption from the US Congress. The MAX series was grounded worldwide from March 2019 to November 2020 after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, in which 346 people died in total.

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