UK LOW-COST carrier easyJet has signed a deal for 27 additional Airbus A320ceos, taking its total orders for the type to 315. This latest deal, valued at 2.5 billion at list prices, exhausts the carrier’s outstanding options for the ceo variant. The latest jets - deliveries of which are due to start next year and run through to 2018 - will be used to expand new routes and to replace older aircraft in the fleet. This will continue until the carrier starts to receive the first of the 100 more fuel-efficient A320neos through the deal signed in June 2013. “We are bringing new aircraft into the fleet as we continue to see a significant number of additional profitable opportunities in our core markets in the near term and in order to maintain our cost advantage,” explained Carolyn McCall, easyJet’s Chief Executive. The additional current generation A320s will enable the airline to grow its fleet to 304 jets by 2019, an increase on the 225 A320 Family jets it operates today.
(Photo Airbus)