Jet2.com increases order for the A320neo family to 98: Jet2.com has placed an incremental order for 35 A320neo aircraft taking its total commitment to the family to 98 aircraft. The latest agreement comes just over a year since Jet2.com placed its first order for 36 A321neos in August 2021, followed by further commitments thereby securing its growth needs as demand continues to outpace supply even in the outer years. The A320neos will be configured for 180 seats with an Airspace cabin featuring innovative lighting, new seating products and 60 percent larger overhead baggage bins for added personal storage. The A320neo Family incorporates new generation engines and Sharklets, which together deliver more than 25 percent fuel and CO 2 savings, as well as a 50 percent noise reduction. Passengers are benefitting throughout the trip from Airbus’ award-winning Airspace interior, which brings the latest cabin technology to the A320 Family. At the end of August 2022, the A320neo family has accumulated over 8,500 firm orders from more than 130 customers worldwide.
Airbus to join Amazon Air fleet with 10 A330-300P2F freighters: Amazon Air has signed a firm agreement to lease 10 A330-300P2F freighters from Altavair, taking advantage of the A330’s capacity and economics to help fulfil its one-day delivery promise to Amazon Prime customers. The aircraft will be operated for Amazon by Hawaiian Airlines, which has had A330s as a key element of its fleet since 2010. The 10 airframes are being converted from passenger aircraft to freighters by Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW), the centre of excellence for Airbus Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) conversions. Amazon Air transports customer packages over longer distances in shorter timeframes to deliver on its customer promise of fast, free delivery. The first of their A330-300P2F aircraft is expected to join the Amazon Air fleet in late 2023. “The endorsement of our freighters by Amazon speaks volumes about the market value of the A330 and the position Airbus wide-bodies are gaining in the cargo market,” said Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International. “Amazon has built a reputation around delivering their goods to our doorsteps with extraordinary speed and consistency, and we’re very proud that our aircraft are trusted to become a key link in that remarkable logistics chain.”
Airbus Beluga delivers Airbus satellite to Kennedy Space Center: A special aircraft landed at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida this weekend: the Airbus BelugaST (A300-600ST). It delivered the Airbus-built HOTBIRD 13G satellite for Eutelsat. This happened a few hours after its twin, HOTBIRD 13F, was successfully launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The spacecraft are the first members of the new “Eurostar Neo” family of Airbus telecommunications satellites, based on a next-generation platform and technologies developed with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA), and others, including the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the UK Space Agency (UKSA). This milestone also marks the first time since 2009 that the Beluga has visited the USA – when it transported the International Space Station European module “Tranquility”. For this latest mission, the Beluga used 30 % Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for its departure flight from Toulouse – reflecting Airbus’ decarbonisation ambitions. Once they reach their orbital position, these two satellites, with more efficient power and thermal control systems than their predecessors, will be able to broadcast more than 1,000 television channels across Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East. They will also enhance Eutelsat’s ability to provide connectivity for more than 135 million people, as they replace three Eutelsat satellites currently in orbit. With the advent of the new BelugaXL, based on the larger A330-200 platform, the existing BelugaST fleet is progressively being made available for outsized freight transport services globally. Since the launch of the new Airbus Beluga Transport service in January, the BelugaST has performed missions for various customers worldwide.
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