Irish national airline Aer Lingus have purchased 12 new long-haul Airbus jet liners as a means of modernizing it’s long-haul fleet and improving it’s transatlantic service to the United States.
Under the agreement, the Aer Lingus Group PLC said it will receive six new A330-300E aircraft from 2009 to 2011, then between 2014 and 2016 it will take delivery of six new A350 XWB (Extra Wide Body) aircraft, a new design currently under development by Airbus. Aer Lingus have also negotiated a possible purchase of six more A350s for delivery by 2018.
Aer Lingus already operates an all-Airbus fleet consisting of 30 short-haul A320s and eight long-haul A330s, and had made the purchase of new long-haul airliners a top priority since the formerly state-owned company was floated on British and Irish stock markets in September. The airline had approached Airbus rival Boeing regarding a potential deal for their new 787 aircraft, but Aer Lingus Chief Executive Dermot Mannion stated that he believed the Airbusses were “better on fuel and better on range” than the 787. He also said that, although the aircraft have a catalogue value of €1.78 billion (US$2.4 billion), Airbus had offered them at an “exceptional price”. Some of the A330s will be replaced by the new aircraft.