Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
New Air, which plans to launch low-fare services from New York Kennedy International in January, has ordered 25 Airbus Industrie A320 family aircraft worth an estimated $1 billion.
The new US entrant also holds 25 options and 25 purchase rights on A320 family aircraft, with the value of the deal set to exceed $4 billion if all options and purchase rights are exercised. The deal includes the lease of seven A320s to allow New Air to begin services in January as the first aircraft on order is scheduled for June 2000 delivery. New Air's aircraft will each seat 162 passengers in a single class.
Headed by David Neeleman, the founder of Morris Air, New Air plans to operate routes primarily along the East Coast of the USA. Neeleman sold Morris Air to Southwest Airlines in 1993. He went on to launch Calgary-based WestJet before arriving on the New York scene with $125 million and a plan to start a new low-fare domestic air carrier based at Kennedy International in direct competition with TWA and Delta Air Lines. A permanent name for New Air will be selected in the coming months.
New Air is expected soon to file for operating certificates with the US Department of Transportation and the US Federal Aviation Administration. The carrier is reportedly considering services from New York to at least 44 US cities, with flights to 30 of these cities planned to begin within three years.
New Air applied this year for 75 new-entrant slots at the congested New York airport, but it did not specify where it planned to fly. During each of its first three years of service, New Air plans to add an average of five flights each hour during peak travel times.
Source: Flight International
