BoA - Boliviana de Aviación (OB, La Paz El Alto (LPB)) is in negotiations with Airbus Industrie (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac (TLS)) for the purchase of two A320-200s, Bolivian President, Evo Morales, has announced. The two aircraft will form the first part of part of an ambitious USD300million fleet acquisition plan, the first tranche of which, USD16million, has already been granted. In the long term, the state-owned carrier is planning on buying "at least six" new aircraft to replace its current fleet of eight B737-300s and a leased A330-200. With it handling 80% of Bolivia's air traffic, BoA operates an extensive domestic network in addition to offering flights to Argentina, Brazil and Spain.

EcoJet (Cochabamba Jórge Wilsterman International (CBB)) is poised to start operations in late May following the recent arrival of its first aircraft, an ex-FlairJet (Germany) (Nuremberg (NUE)) ARJ-85 D-AVRK (c/n 278) on April 23. The airline's initial network will cover all of Bolivia's major cities. EcoJet will compete with fellow new-comer Aerolinea Boliviana AeroStar (Santa Cruz Viru Viru International (VVI)) and veteran carriers, Amaszonas (Z8, La Paz El Alto (LPB)) and BoA - Boliviana de Aviación (OB, La Paz El Alto (LPB)), both of whom have announced plans to upgrade their fleets with CRJ-200s and B737NGs during the second half of the year in preparation for the added market pressure. Not to be outdone, Transporte Aéreo Militar - TAM (La Paz El Alto (LPB)), the Bolivian Air Force's carrier, is also expected to take delivery of a first B737-300 in the near future.

BoA - Boliviana de Aviación (OB, La Paz El Alto (LPB)) has now temporarily wet-leased A340-300 CS-TQL (c/n 133) from its Portuguese ACMI operator Hi Fly (5K, Lisbon Portela de Sacavem (LIS)) which has replaced the A330-200 CS-TQW (c/n 262) that typically operates between Santa Cruz Viru Viru International (VVI) and Madrid Barajas (MAD) for BoA since January 31 already. BoA offers four weekly flights between Santa Cruz and Madrid on its only long-haul route.

BoA - Boliviana de Aviación (OB, La Paz El Alto (LPB)) has added a first ex-Aerolineas Argentinas (AR, Buenos Aires Ezeiza Ministro Pistarini (EZE)) B737-500 registered CP-2717 (MSN 24788) to its fleet of seven B737-300s. BoA has added two B737-300s and an A330-200 wet-leased from Hi Fly (5K, Lisbon Portela de Sacavem (LIS)) to its fleet in 2012 already as part of its efforts to take over routes and passenger demand from bankrupt competitor Aerosur (5L, Santa Cruz Viru Viru International (VVI)).

Hi Fly (5K, Lisbon Portela de Sacavem (LIS)) has started operating its ex-Vietnam Airlines (VN, Hanoi Noibai International (HAN)) A330-200 CS-TQW (c/n 262) on behalf of Bolivian national carrier BoA - Boliviana de Aviación (OB, La Paz El Alto (LPB)) on the latter's new route linking Madrid Barajas (MAD) with Santa Cruz Viru Viru International (VVI) that has been launched on December 7. BoA currently offers four weekly services on the route operated by its Portuguese partner.