MADRID, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Spanish flagship carrier Iberia on Wednesday announced it was purchasing 20 Airbus A320neo airlines for 1.84 billion U.S. dollars to help renew its short and medium-haul fleet.
The announcement was made by airline President Luis Gallego at an event to commemorate Iberia's 90th anniversary. The aircraft, which are low emission and low noise, would be delivered between the first half of 2018 and 2021.
IAG group, of which Iberia forms part, had been able to negotiate a significant price reduction for the aircraft.
This order follows an earlier purchase of 16 Airbus A350-900 airliners which will start to form part of Iberia's long-haul fleet as of 2018.
Luis Gallego also used the event to announce that Iberia would open a new service between the cities of Madrid and Barcelona on July 19.
This service will allow clients to book tickets on the flight of their choice, while maintaining the advantages of an open ticket, with the right to change or cancel their flights without any restriction and also to be able to check in up to 15 minutes before the flight is scheduled to depart.
These innovations are designed to help the company compete with the AVE high-speed train link between Madrid and Barcelona.
