Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH
LUFTHANSA IS to order 20 Airbus A319 short- to medium-range airliners to replace its remaining Boeing 737-200s.
The airline says that it chose the latest and smallest product of the Airbus stable on "grounds of fleet policy and economics". The decision still requires the approval of the company's supervisory board in late March.
The airline has chosen CFM International's CFM56-5A turbofan to power the aircraft, in preference to International Aero Engines' V-2500. Lufthansa already has both engines in its fleet, and airline sources say that price was the key factor.
The aircraft will be configured to carry 126 passengers and be introduced into service between mid-1996 and late 1998, replacing the last 20 of Lufthansa's 737-200s, which will be put up for sale.
Ten-200s were sold to Indonesia in 1994 and Lufthansa says that "definite interest" has recently arisen in the remaining 20 from an unspecified potential buyer.
The A319, like its larger stable-mate the A321, will be assembled at Daimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus' (DAA) Hamburg site. Assembly of the first aircraft is to begin on 23 March, with the first flight due in September.
Source: Flight International
