Article from BTNews 13 MARCH 2017
Aer Lingus expanding long-haul
Seven new long-range Airbus A321neo aircraft are set to join the Aer Lingus fleet in 2019 and 2020 following a lease agreement between parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) and Air Lease Corporation (ALC), IAG said last week.
Billed as the most fuel efficient long range narrow body aircraft, each will have 186 seats in a two-class configuration and will be used mainly to replace existing long-haul aircraft on routes between Dublin and the US east coast.
The new fleet will also enable the airline to expand its network into routes that can’t necessarily be served sustainably with the larger capacity A330 wide-body models it also operates.
IAG chief executive Willie Walsh said introduction of the new aircraft would allow Aer Lingus to fly more often on the transatlantic routes and provide additional flexibility for connecting passengers.
The deal would also strengthen Dublin Airport, described as one of the current fastest growing transatlantic departure markets, as the Aer Lingus hub for the services to the US.
ALC was the first customer to sign-up to the long-range version of the A321neo, which Airbus says will be able to fly around 206 passengers in a two-class layout on routes of up to 4,000 nautical miles.
OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)
All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum