Tag Archives: a320 family

Aeroflot celebrates 10 years of flying the Airbus A320 Family of aircraft

Aeroflot Russian Airlines (Moscow) is celebrating 10 years of flying the Airbus A320 Family of aircraft. The airline issued this statement:

Ten years ago Aeroflot received its first aircraft from the Airbus family — an A319 which was named after the eminent Russian composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Prokofiev.

The A320 family airplanes meet all the requirements of security, reliability and passenger comfort. Aeroflot operates A320 aircraft on European and domestic routes. In terms of operational reliability and actual hours flown per aircraft, the company is among the world leaders. Cabins of this aircraft family are made in two-class configuration and designed to carry 116 (A319), 140 and 158 (A320), and 170 (A321) passengers.

Many aircraft of the A320 family which is the backbone of Aeroflot’s park are decorated with unique liveries and logos. You can find A320s with the Dobrolet retro livery, Winter Olympics mascots (see below) and the Yekaterinburg World Expo 2020 Bid Committee logo. A jet from A320 family became the Olympic Torch Relay aircraft and brought the Olympic flame from Greece to Moscow. The Olympic Torch Relay team will travel to the northern regions of the country (from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok) and to the Caucasus on board one of Aeroflot’s A320s.

Today Aeroflot’s fleet counts 140 airplanes, most of them are of A319/320/321 family. All the Airbus aircraft are delivered to Aeroflot directly from the manufacturer. The average age of an A320 family aircraft is 5 years.

Aeroflot’s fleet is one of the youngest in Europe. By the end of 2012, Aeroflot reached the fourth place among European carriers in terms of aircraft deliveries, according to Airline Business rating.

Aeroflot is celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2013. Aeroflot is Russia’s flagship airline and the largest national air company. Proudly being a member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance, Aeroflot with its partnering members provides service to more than 1000 destinations in 178 countries. Aeroflot operates one of the most modern and youngest fleets in Europe counting 140 aircraft formed by Airbus, Boeing and Sukhoi airliners with an average airplane age between five and six years old. In 2012 Aeroflot carried 17.7 million passengers (27.5 million passengers as Aeroflot Group), continuously showing the best results in modern Russia’s history.

Top Copyright Photos: Rolf Wallner/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 VP-BWD (msn 2116) taxies past the camera at Zurich.

Aeroflot Russian Airlines:

Bottom Copyright Photo: OSDU/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 VP-BMF (msn 3711) in the Sochi 2014 – 2014 Winter Olympics scheme arrives at the Moscow (Sheremetyevo) hub.

BOC Aviation orders 25 Airbus A320 Family aircraft

BOC Aviation (Singapore, the aircraft leasing subsidiary of Bank of China, has announced during the 15th Aviation Expo China 2013 in Beijing an additional firm order for the purchase of 25 A320 Family aircraft comprising 13 A320ceo and 12 A320neo family aircraft. The order comprises A320 and A321 variants. BOC Aviation will make its engine selection at a later date.

The order from BOC Aviation for 25 more A320 Family aircraft comes less than a year after their previous order for 50 A320 Family aircraft, confirming the fast pace at which the market requires Airbus’ fuel efficient single-aisle planes.

Including this latest purchase agreement, BOC Aviation’s cumulative orders for new Airbus aircraft reach a total of 212 (206 A320 Family and six A330 Family aircraft).

Image: Airbus.

Qingdao Airlines orders 23 Airbus A320 Family aircraft

Qingdao Airlines, a newly established airline based in the Eastern Chinese coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong Province, has selected the Airbus A320 Family aircraft to build up its fleet.

The airline has signed a purchase agreement with Airbus for a total of 23 A320 Family aircraft, including five A320ceo and 18 A320neo aircraft. The agreement was signed by He Li, director of the Board of Qingdao Airlines and John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers at the 15th Aviation Expo China 2013 in Beijing. The deal is subject to approval from China’s central government. The first delivery is expected to begin in 2016. The airline will start operation in 2014 with leased A320 aircraft.

Philippine Airlines takes delivery of its first Airbus A321

Philippine Airlines (PAL) (Philippines) (Manila) has taken delivery of its first Airbus A321. The aircraft was handed over at the Airbus delivery center in Hamburg (Finkenwerder), Germany on August 6 and is the first of 64 new Airbus aircraft ordered by the airline in 2012 under a major fleet modernization program. These include 44 single aisle A321s and 20 widebody A330s.

Philippine Airlines has specified a two class layout for its A321s, with 12 seats in Business Class and 187 in Economy. The airline will operate its new A321s primarily on international routes across the Asian region, as well as on selected domestic flights.

The A321 joins an Airbus fleet at Philippine Airlines that already includes 22 A320 Family aircraft flying on domestic and regional routes, as well as nine in service with its budget subsidiary PAL Express. The carrier also operates eight widebody A330s on higher capacity routes across Asia and seven A340-300s on its longest services to the United States.

Following the introduction of the A321, Philippine Airlines will take delivery of the first of its 20 new A330s in the third quarter of the year. The carrier is also currently adding four A340-300s to its fleet for deployment on new non-stop services to Europe, scheduled to begin next month.

Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss/AirlinersGallery.com. The pictured Airbus A321-231 D-AZAS (msn 5715) on a test flight at Hamburg (Finkenwerder) on August 5 became RP-C9901 on the hand over the following day.

Update: PAL introduced the new A321 on August 9 between Manila and Cebu and Manila and Davao.

Philippines-Philippine Airlines:

Airbus delivers the 8,000 aircraft, an A320 for AirAsia

Airbus (Toulouse) has delivered its 8,000th aircraft – an A320 for AirAsia Indonesia (Jakarta). The aircraft took off from Toulouse, France on Saturday August 3 and arrived earlier today (August 5) at its new base in Jakarta.

AirAsia Group is the largest low-cost airline in Asia and now operates an all-Airbus fleet. The airline is the largest customer for the A320 Family, having ordered a total of 475 aircraft, comprising 264 A320neo and 211 A320ceo. Meanwhile, Airbus wide body aircraft are the choice of the group’s long haul affiliate AirAsiaX, which has ordered a total of 26 A330-300s and ten A350 XWBs. A total of 141 Airbus aircraft are flying today in AirAsia’s colors out of its 16 bases in the region, which include Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.

AirAsia (Indonesia):

Lufthansa firms up order for 100 Airbus A320 Family aircraft

The Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa) (Frankfurt) has firmed up a previous Supervisory Board decision from March this year and signed for 100 Airbus A320 Family aircraft (35 A320neo, 35 A321neo and 30 A320ceo aircraft with Sharklets) at the Paris International Airshow in Le Bourget, France.

The Lufthansa Group has been operating the A320 Family since October 1989. They were the launching customer for the A321 and belonged to the first operators of the A319 and A320. The new order confirms Lufthansa’s leading position as the largest Airbus airline customer and operator in Europe, increasing its order for the A320 type to 299. Over 150 of these aircraft have already been delivered.

Image: Airbus.

Lufthansa:

Turkish Airlines signs a contract for 82 firm A320 Family aircraft

Turkish Airlines (Istanbul) has signed a contract for up to 117 A320 Family aircraft (25 A321ceo, 4 A320neo, 53 A321neo and options for 35 additional A321neo aircraft). This order is the largest ever placed by a Turkish carrier. The engine selection will be made at a later date.

Turkish Airlines already operates 75 A320 Family aircraft. The new order will help Turkish Airlines expand their short to medium-haul routes from their Istanbul hub, while the aircraft’s commonality with their existing Airbus fleet will generate additional cost-savings.

On the financial side, the airline’s net profit expanded to $625 million for 2012.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth. Airbus A320-232 TC-JAI (msn 3259) arrives at EuroAirport which serves Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg.

Turkish Airlines:

JetBlue to introduce its first in-house converted Airbus A320 Sharklet aircraft on February 21

JetBlue Airways (New York) will later this month become the first airline in the world to install Airbus “Sharklets” winglets as a retrofit on “Blue Yorker” (N821JB). All new A320-family aircraft rolling off the production line – including the seven aircraft JetBlue is taking delivery of this year – will come with Sharklets already installed on the production line.

JetBlue plans to celebrate this milestone with an event at JFK’s Hangar 81 on Thursday, February 21.

According to the airline, “Sharklets produce better fuel efficiency for the aircraft – up to three percent less fuel burn on long-haul flights – providing fuel savings, range flexibility (reducing those winter-wind west bound fuel stops and arbitrary seat caps) while resulting in a smaller environmental footprint. Further, the Sharklets will allow JetBlue to compete against other airlines who are currently flying more efficient aircraft (notably the 737-800).”

JetBlue’s Tech Ops Crew at JFK will retrofit five of the latest A320 deliveries, which were delivered from Airbus with reinforced wings that support Sharklets. The airline anticipates the retrofit will take about four days to complete. Older A320s (which make up the majority of our fleet) will have to undergo a more extensive program, including strengthening the interior of the wing structures before the Sharklet can be installed. This retrofit will take up the better part of two weeks, and will be conducted by a Business Partner under the close supervision of Airbus and JetBlue.

Copyright Photo: JetBlue has been an advocate of the winglet installation on both the forward- and retro-fitted A320s since 2006 when the airline participated in a project with Airbus and tested two designs on a this future JetBlue aircraft. One of the designs is pictured on Airbus A320-232 F-WWDL (msn 2755) which became N636JB on delivery.

JetBlue Airways:

Citilink orders 25 Airbus A320neo aircraft

Citilink (Jakarta), the low cost subsidiary of Garuda Indonesia (Jakarta), has placed a firm order with Airbus for 25 A320neo. The contract, signed in December 2012, represents the first direct purchase by Citilink from Airbus. It follows an order placed in 2011 by Garuda Indonesia for 15 A320ceo and 10 A320neo aircraft for operation by Citilink.

Citilink already operates a fleet of 12 leased A320s on its fast growing domestic network.

Incorporating new engines and large “Sharklet” wing tip devices, the A320neo Family will deliver fuel savings of 15 percent. The reduction in fuel burn is equivalent to 1.4 million litres of fuel – the consumption of 1,000 mid size cars, saving 3,600 tonnes of C02 per aircraft per year. In addition, the A320neo Family will provide a double-digit reduction in NOx emissions and reduced engine noise.

With close to 8,900 aircraft ordered and over 5,300 aircraft delivered to over 380 customers and operators worldwide, the A320 Family is the world’s best-selling single-aisle aircraft family.

Copyright Photo: Eurospot. The pictured Airbus A320-214 F-WWIK (msn 5379) became PK-GLL when it was delivered on November 26, 2012.

Citilink:

AirAsia becomes the first operator of Airbus’ Sharklet equipped A320

AirAsia (AirAsia.com) (Malaysia) (Kuala Lumpur) yesterday (December 21) received its first Airbus A320-200 with the new Sharklets winglet. The pictured A320-216 F-WWIC (msn 5428) became 9M-AQQ on the handover. 9M-AQQ is also painted in the new 2012 livery for AirAsia. It becomes the first A320 with Sharklets to enter revenue service. Airbus issued the following statement:

Airbus has delivered the first A320 equipped with Sharklets to AirAsia, which becomes the first operator of the new fuel-saving large wing tip devices. Sharklets are an option on new-build A320 Family aircraft, and are standard on all members of the A320neo Family.

Sharklets are made from light-weight composites and are 2.4 meters tall. These newly designed wing-tip devices reduce fuel burn and emissions by improving the aerodynamics of the aircraft significantly. Cutting airlines’ fuel bills by around four percent, Sharklets will offer the flexibility to A320 Family operators of either adding around 100 nautical miles more range or allowing increased payload capability of up to 450 kilograms.

“We are extremely proud to be the first airline in the world to take delivery of an A320 fitted with Airbus’ new, fuel saving Sharklets,” said Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Group Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia . “AirAsia has a long-standing, special relationship with Airbus and as we grow our network with our all A320 fleet, these new wing tip devices will contribute to fulfilling our goal of being the most efficient, innovative low cost airline in the world.”

“As our biggest A320 Family airline customer, it’s very fitting that AirAsia is the first carrier to benefit from the four percent fuel saving our new Sharklets deliver,” said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers. “AirAsia’s vision is to make is possible for everyone to fly and now with their Sharklet-equipped A320s they can assure their passengers that they are also travelling on board the world’s most environmentally friendly single-aisle aircraft.”

Due to the very strong customer demand for Sharklets, all Airbus’ single-aisle final assembly lines (FALs) will be engaged in building A320 Family aircraft with Sharklets. These FALs are located in Toulouse (France), Hamburg (Germany) and Tianjin (China) and will soon be followed by an additional A320 FAL in Mobile (Alabama, USA).

AirAsia, the largest low cost airline in Asia is also Airbus’ largest A320 Family airline customer. The carrier recently placed a new order with Airbus on the 13th December 2012 for 100 more A320 Family aircraft including 36 A320ceo aircraft with Sharklets. Altogether, AirAsia has ordered 475 single aisle aircraft from Airbus, comprising 264 A320neo and 211 A320ceo. Over 100 aircraft have already been delivered to the airline and are flying out of its bases in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila and Tokyo.

AirAsia: