Brazil's Gol to add six Boeing 737s in 4th quarter
Brazilian no-frills airline Gol on Thursday said it would receive six Boeing 737s in the fourth quarter to boost its fleet to 29 jets by the end of the year, two more than previously forecast.
"GOL's fleet expansion reflects the better-than-expected demand for passenger air travel in the domestic market and will provide new seat capacity for the expansion of flight operations to Argentina," Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes CEO, Constantino de Oliveira Jr., said in a statement.
Gol said it would receive four 737-300s, built by Boeing Co. , under two-year operating leases in October and November, then two 737-700 models in December. The airline had previously said it expected to end the year with 27 planes.
The airline declined to comment as to how much the Boeing jets would cost.The new planes would allow Gol, which claims to be one of the most profitable and fastest-growing airlines in the world, to service six new destinations, including its first scheduled international service to the Argentine capital.
Gol, which is modeled on low-cost low-fare carriers like Southwest Airlines Co. and Ireland's Ryanair Holdings Plc, currently flies to 31 destinations.
Brazilian airlines have had a difficult run in recent years as economic turbulence hit demand while depreciation of the local currency magnified the dollar-denominated costs of debt, aircraft leasing and jet fuel in local terms.
But unlike rival Brazilian carriers like Varig, TAM and Vasp, Gol has prospered since it took to the air three years ago with a strategy of keeping costs as low as possible to be able to offer cheaper tickets.
In late August, the company, which listed shares in Brazil and New York in late June, revised its forecast upward for 2004 earnings per share in U.S. GAAP terms.
Gol shares were 0.3 percent higher at 27.70 reais in late morning trade on Thursday in Brazil while the benchmark Bovespa stock index was 1.2 percent lower.
(From Reuters, October 14, 2004)
_____________