SABENA IS examining Airbus Industrie A320s as possible replacements for some of its Boeing 737s.
One possibility being considered by the Belgian carrier is to acquire the aircraft on operating leases from US lessor International Lease Finance (ILFC).
The airline and its regional subsidiary, Delta Air Transport, operate a variety of aircraft types on its short-haul routes, but the Boeing 737, which includes some 13 -200s, and 15 CFM-powered models (-300s, -400s and -500s) dominates the operations.
Sabena is looking to cut maintenance costs by reducing the number of types to two in the near future and, ultimately, just one.
Sabena's re-equipment plan had called for the older noisy 737-200s to be replaced some time after 1998. This has been hastened, after increased environmental pressure and recent political manoeuvering, to impose a ban on night operations at Brussels Airport.
While the 737 had been the most logical type to standardise on, Sabena's tie-up with existing A320 family operators Swissair, which holds a 49.5% shareholding, and Austrian Airlines, has brought the Airbus into the evaluation process. Talks are being held with ILFC covering the possible lease of "a number of A320 aircraft".
Sabena is examining the savings that an A320 acquisition could have on its cost structure.
Swissair could, for example, undertake maintenance, and a scaling-down of Sabena's maintenance department is one component of its drive to achieve profitability by 1998.
Source: Flight International
