VIP charter operator JETALLIANCE of Austria is to acquire two more A318 Elites, adding to its previously placed order for one aircraft and becoming the first to place a repeat order for the newest member of the Airbus Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) Family. It also has an Airbus ACJ on order.

JETALLIANCE Flugbetriebs AG is one of the world's leading business-jet enterprises, with a fleet of 37 aircraft with an average age of only 3.5 years - one of the youngest in Europe. It operates under JAR OPS 1 in Europe, but is also FAA part 129 certificated, allowing it to fly commercially in the USA and Canada.

JETALLIANCE has chosen the standarised 14-seat Elite + cabin layout for its A318 Elites. It has yet to announce a choice of engines to power the aircraft.

"With a much wider and longer cabin that features several separate zones, the Airbus A318 Elite is a big step up in comfort and productivity from traditional business jets, as well as being great value for money," says JETALLIANCE Holding CEO Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer. "We like the Airbus A318 Elite, and are looking forward to flying it".

Airbus' ACJ Family includes the A318 Elite, ACJ and A320 Prestige, and has won some 80 sales to date. It is the preferred choice of companies, governments and individuals, which love its comfortable cabin, robust reliability and solid support.

"Our A318 Elite is similar in size to traditional business-jets on the outside, but very much bigger inside, which is a tremendous advantage for private customers such as JETALLIANCE," says Airbus President and EADS CO-CEO Louis Gallois. "We look forward to being JETALLIANCE's partner in the modernisation of its fleet."

Airbus' ACJ Family offers twice the cabin-width and three times the volume of traditional top-of-the-line business jets, delivering unmatched value for money.

The Airbus ACJ Family delivers more in features such as fuel-saving wingtip-fences, cost-saving centralised maintenance and weight-saving composites. It also has many other benefits that have become the hallmark of Airbus aircraft - such as a pilot-friendly common cockpit, fly-by-wire controls and category 3B autoland.

Airbus' A320 Family is also unique in providing practical advantages such as large, outward-opening cargo-doors and a choice of engines and auxiliary power units.

JETALLIANCE group has been active in commercial aviation since 1996, and is involved in aircraft management, aircraft financing, asset management and charter, and provides asset management for over 70 aircraft worldwide.

Total sales of the Airbus A320 Family stand at almost 4,500, nearly 3,000 of which have been delivered. The family has more than 200 customers and operators.

Source: eads.net

Letztes Update: 02-07-2007 21:31

Tiger Airways, Singapore's fast growing low-fare carrier has placed an order for eight more Airbus A320s. Tiger Airways currently operates a fleet of seven A320s, with the latest order bringing the airline's backlog of deliveries to 13 aircraft. The A320s will be deployed on the airline's regional network that currently extends to 15 cities in seven countries. Tiger Airways' A320s will be configured in a 180-seater all economy configuration and be powered by IAE V2500 engines.

The latest A320 order by Tiger Airways serves to highlight the outstanding popularity that the A320 Family has enjoyed with both established and start up low-cost carriers in the Asia - Pacific region over the past few years. Low-cost carriers in Australia, China, India, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore have ordered more than 300 A320 Family aircraft during the past three years. Almost 560 A320 Family aircraft are already in service with more than 40 airlines across the region.

"Tiger Airways has seen tremendous growth in the past year, with passenger numbers increasing in the first six months of this financial year by 70%. Consumers across Asia are asking for more and more affordable flights and these additional new aircraft will enable Tiger Airways to respond positively to these demands," said Tony Davis, Chief Executive Officer, Tiger Airways.

"This significant order for additional aircraft represents a strong endorsement of our pure low fare, low cost business model which is used by other successful low fare airlines such as Ryanair. We would like to acknowledge the support of our many customers who have supported us by flying Tiger Airways as their first choice of low fare airline," added Mr Davis.

"I am delighted that Tiger Airways' experience with the A320 over the past two years has resulted in this commitment to expand the fleet. I am confident that the aircraft's superb economics and high passenger appeal will significantly contribute to Tiger Airways' continuing successful growth across the region," said Airbus President and Chief Executive Officer, Louis Gallois.

With almost 50 million flight hours to date, more than 4,400 aircraft ordered and 2,800 delivered to some 180 operators, the A318, A319, A320 and A321 make up the world's best-selling single-aisle aircraft family. Designed to optimise revenue through cabin adaptability and passenger comfort and featuring the most modern and complete fly-by-wire technology available on any single-aisle aircraft, they ensure savings in every element of direct operating cost and provide operators with the highest degree of operational commonality and economy for aircraft in the 100-220 seat category.

The A320 Family's optimised cabin cross-section - the widest single-aisle fuselage on the market - sets new standards for passenger cabin flexibility in this segment. It allows for top-of-the-range comfort with wider seats and aisles, or an extra-wide aisle for the fast turnarounds that are essential in the low-cost markets. Furthermore, the superior cabin size and shape allow larger overhead stowage to be fitted for faster boarding and deplaning as well as greater convenience.

Source: eads.net

Letztes Update: 16-03-2008 21:04

Die EADS hat heute für € 2,75 Mrd. den 20-Prozent-Anteil von BAE Systems an Airbus übernommen. Dieser Kaufpreis war von einem unabhängigen Gutachter im Zuge des Put-Option-Prozesses, den BAE Systems im Juni 2006 veranlasst hatte, festgesetzt worden. Die EADS bezahlte aus vorhandenen Barmitteln. Die EADS ist damit alleiniger Eigentümer von Airbus.

Quelle: eads.net

Letztes Update: 02-07-2007 21:35

The Airbus A380 MSN009 powered by Engine Alliance GP7200 engines, took off from Toulouse today at 09:40 am local time for a six and a half hour flight to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia where it will complete a series of high altitude tests.

Addis Ababa is an airport situated at 7,500 feet, from which the A380 will perform tests to validate the engines' performance from high altitude airports. The A380 is scheduled to continue from Addis Ababa at the end of this week for hot weather tests to be performed at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.

The A380 is piloted today by Test Pilots, Etienne Tarnowski and Ignacio Lombo. The other crew members are Test Flight Engineer, Bruno Bigand and Flight Test Engineers, Manfred Birnfeld and Jean-Philippe Cottet.

MSN009 is the fifth developmental A380 aircraft that joined the fleet of A380 test aircraft in August. The A380 MSN009 is powered by four GP7200 Engine Alliance engines, which have a capacity of delivering a thrust up to 81,500 pounds (37 tonnes) each. Six A380 customers have selected the Engine Alliance GP7200 engine for a total of 82 firm aircraft orders.

Extreme weather testing is part of the overall European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification programme. So far, the five A380 developmental aircraft have accumulated 2247 test flight hours in 700 flights. The certification programme is on track and the aircraft's performance is often exceeding expectations.

Source: eads.net

Letztes Update: 02-07-2007 21:20