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Air Austral agreement for three A220s
October 15, 2019 By Wings Staff
Air Austral’s firm order for three single-aisle A220 aircraft is marked by (from left to right): Joel Boff, Senior Sales Director Europe, Airbus; Didier Robert, President of Sematra; Marie-Joseph Malé, CEO Air Austral; Kimon Sotiropoulos, SVP Central and Northern Europe, Airbus; and Christopher Buckley, EVP Commercial, Airbus. (Photo: Airbus) Air Austral, France’s Réunion Island-based airline, signed a firm order for three A220 aircraft, which will make Air Austral the first A220 customer based in the Indian Ocean region.
“Air Austral has chosen the A220-300 as part of the renewal of its medium- and short-haul fleet. These new-generation aircraft will join the airline from the end of 2020 with the aim of harmonising part of its fleet and strengthening its operations,” said Marie-Joseph Malé, CEO of Air Austral.”
Malé continues to explains that the performance of the A220 opens new possibilities for the development of Air Austral’s regional network from our main base in Réunion Island. “The 132-seat capacity module, which is more flexible, will allow us to increase our frequencies while offering more comfort to our customers and crews,” he said.
The design of the new clean sheet single-aisle aircraft allows for more seats, offering extra revenue potential to airlines, especially to those located in remote areas, and extra usable cargo volume capacity.
Airbus describes the A220 as the only aircraft purpose-built for the 100-150 seat market. The aircraft leverages Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines to offer what Airbus states to be at least a 20 per cent lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft, along with significantly lower emissions and a reduced noise footprint.
The A220 had an order book of over 500 aircraft at the end of September 2019.
