Avianca SA, Colombia's largest airline, will pay $1.5 billion for 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliner jetliners and the option to buy 10 more.

"With this purchase we ratify our commitment to make Avianca the leading airline in Latin America" German Efromovich, president of Brazil's Grupo Sinergy, which owns Avianca, said in a statement issued today by Boeing Co.

Avianca will use the new planes starting in 2010 on its transatlantic routes. The aircraft will replace Boeing 767s and 757s it now uses, the Bogota-based company said in a separate statement.