VVIP charter company Acropolis Aviation took delivery of the first ACJ320neo on 16 January at Airbus’s headquarters in Toulouse.
The green, re-engined aircraft (MSN8403) has now arrived at AMAC Aerospace’s facility in Basel, Switzerland for completion.
Airbus
“This is an historic day for Acropolis,” says Jonathan Bousfield, chief executive of the Farnborough, UK-headquartered operator which became the launch customer for the ACJ320neo in 2015.
“We are looking forward to presenting the [completed] aircraft to our clients at the end of the year.”
Airbus
The airliner will replace Acropolis’s VIP-configured A319 (registration G-NOAH), which has been in service with the company since 2010.
The interior of the CFM International Leap-1A-powered narrowbody - which will carry the registration G-KELT - has been designed by French studio Alberto Pinto. It will accommodate 19 passengers, and have a private master bedroom leading to a luxury en-suite with larger shower. The forward lounge and dining area have also been enlarged to "deliver the highest levels of comfort, with the very latest technology and connectivity – optimised for work and leisure", says Acropolis.
Benoit Defforge, president of Airbus Corporate Jets, describes Acropolis’s ACJ320neo delivery as “the latest milestone in the roll-out of a completely new ACJ family, enabling even more of the comfort, range and value prized by business jet customers”.
Airbus has sold 11 ACJ320neo-family aircraft to date: six ACJ320s, three of the smaller ACJ319s and two "undisclosed" models, although those aircraft have yet to appear in the airframer's firm order backlog.
Airbus is planning to deliver the first ACJ319neo to German operator K5 Aviation in May. The charter and management company has appointed Dutch maintenance, repair and overhaul firm Fokker Techniek to outfit the aircraft on behalf of its unnamed owner.
Source: Flight International
