AMERICAN AIRLINES, WHICH yesterday announced it was closing its Dublin call centre, is to buy at least 460 new planes over the next five years.

The airline’s parent company, AMR Corp., has said that the order will be split between Boeing and Airbus. It will also take options and purchase rights for up to 465 additional planes.

The airline expects that the new, better mileage planes will save money on fuel and provide more exciting amenities to passengers.

Reuters reports that the aircraft order is worth more than $20 billion.

AMR Corp. has today reported a net loss of $286 million for the second quarter of the year according to Market Watch, and APR Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey has said that the company remains “acutely focused on taking the necessary steps to manage through our near-term challenges while continuing to lay the foundation for long term success”.

The closure of the Dublin office, with the loss of 130 jobs, is just one of several actions the company has taken. It also plans to suspend and cancel some international routes, including the suspension of a route between JFK Airport in New York and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami in March.

The international reservations call centre which was based in Dublin is to be outsourced to an ‘offshore location’ according to a statement from American Airlines.

The company said that it has posted significant losses in recent years, and that it is focused on reducing costs and finding efficiencies.

It said that the decision to outsource the work currently handled in Dublin could result in significant savings which are “unlikely to be matched by efficiency gains within the existing operation”.

Read more: American Airlines closes Dublin office after 15 years>

- Additional reporting by AP