Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) says it has reached an agreement with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) to acquire thirty-seven more A321s as part of its narrowbody fleet renewal programme. The US carrier already has forty-five of the type on order with two having thus far been delivered.

“The order for the A321s is an opportunistic fleet move that enables us to produce strong returns and cost-effectively accelerate the retirement of Delta’s 116 MD-88s in a capital efficient manner,” Edward H. Bastian, Delta’s incoming chief executive officer, said.

The additional A321s, which are being acquired near the end of the model’s production cycle, will be delivered concurrently with existing A321 orders through 2019.