Mike Martin
International Lease Finance (ILFC) has ordered 30 of Airbus Industrie's latest aircraft, the A318 - part of a 60-aircraft deal for A320 family aircraft, it was announced at the show yesterday.
It was also announced that AirLanka has ordered three more A330-200s.
The list price of the ILFC aircraft would add up to $2.5 billion, while the AirLanka contract list price is around $340 million.
The ILFC order is for 30 A318s, 16 A319s, four A320s and 10 A321s.
Decision
The A318s will be powered by the Pratt & Whitney PW6000 engine, but a decision on powerplants for the other aircraft will be made later.
Delivery of the A318s will begin in 2002. Steven Udvar-Hazy, president and chief executive of ILFC, says that some 25% of the ordered aircraft have been placed with airlines in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America.
Three unnamed airlines have committed to take A318s.
ILFC remains the biggest customer for Airbus aircraft, with a total of 342 ordered (about 10% of the total). The leasing specialist was launch customer for the A319, A330-200, A321-200 and now the A318.
Says Udvar-Hazy: "We have an excellent, long-standing relationship with Airbus Industrie and we expect that the A318 will be an important addition to the A320 family, further increasing our ability to offer airlines the aircraft best suited to their leasing requirements."
For Airbus, chief executive Noel Forgeard says: "This is a very important announcement because the confidence that ILFC places in a product in the early stages of its life is always very important to the market."
Airbus has secured 109 orders and commitments on the A318. Forgeard says that the other commitments are in the form of memoranda of understanding with deposits paid.
Existing
AirLanka's order for three more A330-200s, brings its order for the type to nine.
Deliveries of its existing order for six begin in October this year, with the newly-ordered three to arrive from September 2000.
The deal confirms AirLanka's move to an all-Airbus fleet of A330s and A340s. Says Forgeard: "We are pleased that AirLanka is building its future around our A330/A340 family."
Source: Flight Daily News
