Allegiant Air Getting A Dozen New Planes

(RTTNews) - Low-cost airline Allegiant Air announced its order for brand-new aircraft for the first time in its history.

The carrier announced on Friday it had reached a deal to purchase 12 current-generation models of Airbus' A320 narrow-body jets. The company termed the deal as "another step towards Allegiant's planned transition to an all Airbus fleet by 2019."

Allegiant has selected the CFM engine type for the aircraft. The aircraft are expected to enter service between 2017 and 2018. This transaction brings Allegiant a total of 77 Airbus aircraft either in service or committed for future delivery.

"The fact that these planes are new is notable, but should not be seen as a change in our fundamental strategy," said Maury Gallagher, Allegiant chairman and chief executive officer. "We have always looked at building our fleet opportunistically, and this agreement is no exception. With Airbus preparing to transition production of its current engine option models to new engine option models, we were able to negotiate an order for twelve end-of-line slots."