LATAM Airlines (LA, Santiago de Chile) LATAM Airlines Group has placed an incremental order with Boeing (BOE, Washington National) for five B787s while choosing General Electric GEnx engines as the first customer for these powerplants in South America.
The holding currently operates ten B787-8s (nine through LATAM Airlines and one through LATAM Airlines Perú) and twenty-three B787-9s (ten through LATAM Airlines, nine through LATAM Airlines Brasil, and eight through LATAM Airlines Perú), the ch-aviation fleets module shows. It also plans to take three more ex-Norwegian -9s. All of these aircraft are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. The only operator of the GEnx engines in Latin America is Aeroméxico.
"The incorporation of GEnx engines is a decision that provides greater flexibility and options for the expansion of the long-range fleet. Furthermore, increasing the B787 fleet size will allow the group to operate with two different engine models, known for their cutting-edge technology and reduced environmental impact, in a complementary way," Chief Financial Officer Ramiro Alfonsin said.
The airline did not respond to ch-aviation's query about the variants of the five newly ordered B787s or their delivery timelines.
Following the retirement of all A350-900s by LATAM Airlines Brasil during the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent exit of its passenger-configured B767-300ERs, the holding has focused heavily on the B787 as the foundation of its long-haul fleet. However, the Brazilian AOC continues to operate ten B777-300(ER)s alongside the B787s.
