Air Algerie to spend €560m upgrading fleet

Algerian flagship carrier Air Algerie plans to spend around 60 billion dinars ($762 million/556 million euros) upgrading its fleet, chairman Mohamed Salah Boultif said on Saturday. "The company plans to acquire 16 new aircraft between now and 2017 for around 60 billion dinars," Boultif told a news conference. The state-owned company will acquire eight airplanes with a capacity of 150 passengers, three more with a capacity of 250 to replace three Boeing 767s delivered in 1990, three smaller ones taking 70 passengers and two cargo planes with a capacity of 12-18 tonnes. Boultif said the company was in the final stages of talks with manufacturers, whom he did not identify, and said the first delivery should be at the end of next December. Last month, Airbus said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Air Algerie for three A330-200s, which have a catalog price of 216 million euros each. The carrier, which has a current fleet of 43, should see revenue increase from 65.6 billion dinars in 2012 to 67 billion this year, Boultif said. The company carried 4.4 million passengers last year.