Story ID: 751 AirbusSaudiA330.doc
Saudi is A330-300 Regional Launch Customer
By: Charles Alcock
Caption: Airbus now has a launch customer for its A330-300 Regional model.
Word Count: 361
Saudi Arabian Airlines has signed up to be the launch customer for Airbus’s A330-300 Regional twinjet. In a deal announced at the Paris Air Show on Monday, the carrier ordered 30 of the new model, plus 30 examples of the A320ceo narrowbody. The new business is worth approximately $8 billion based on list prices, and represented the lion’s share of orders announced so far at Paris by the European airframer, which have a combined value of around $15.2 billion.

Later the same day, GE Capital Aviation Services placed an order for 60 A320neos. The contract, worth approximately $6.4 billion, will include some of the larger A320neo versions of the new narrowbody. GE has chosen CFM International’s Leap 1A engine as the powerplant of the aircraft. The leasing group’s portfolio of A320 family aircraft is set to top 465, with 120 of these being A320neos.

Airbus also now has a launch customer for its ACJ319neo. Saudi operator Alpha Star will operate the VIP-configured aircraft for charter operations, with delivery to its Riyadh headquarters anticipated in the second quarter of 2019. It placed the order on Monday, but will confirm engine selection and the precise cabin configuration later.

Meanwhile, Air Lease Corporation placed a firm order worth around $706 million covering an A350-900, an A321ceo and three A320ceos. The deal will take the U.S.-based group’s Airbus fleet to a total of 262 airliners.

Airbus launched the A330-300 Regional in September 2013 as a lower-weight version of the twinjet that would be optimized to carry up to around 400 passengers on regional and domestic routes. The original A330-300 was developed for long-haul routes of up to 6,100 nautical miles.

“The A330-300 Regional’s unique flexibility, high capacity and operational capabilities will enable us to expand our domestic and regional network and better absorb growing passenger traffic,” said Saudi Arabian Airlines director general Saleh bin Nasser. “Introducing the A330-300 Regional in our current fleet is an ideal choice and follows our previous commitment to a family of aircraft, which already successfully helped us to achieve our ambitions.”