LAN Airlines is to sell its 15 Airbus A318s as part of a fleet modernisation which includes dozens more A320-family jets.

The A318s are all powered by the Pratt & Whitney PW6000 engine.

LAN says today that its strategic fleet renewal "now involves the sale" of the aircraft between 2011 and 2013.

It tentatively signed for another 50 A320-family jets, including A321s, at the Farnborough Air Show today, and selected the CFM International CFM56 engine to power 40 of them.

Chief operating officer Ignacio Cueto says the agreemetn shows the airline is committed to developing Latin American commercial aviation "incorporating the best technology and offering our clients one of the world's most modern fleets".

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news