Garuda Indonesia's domestic low cost subsidiary received the first of
at least five used Airbus A320s, an IAE V2527E-A5 powered, former Wizz
Air aircraft (serial 839) on lease from AerCap on 17 August 2011. The
carrier expects to receive three more A320s, including two more former
Wizz Air machines (serials 892 and 1635) on lease from AerCap before the
end of this year, and a fifth A320 in February 2012. Citilink is also
seeking more used V2500 powered A320s in preparation for the launch of international services in 2012, with planned destinations in Australia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. On 9 August 2011,
parent Garuda Indonesia finalised a deal worth $2.13 billion, to acquire
15 Airbus A320 and 10 A320neo aircraft to replace Citilink's existing
ten-strong fleet of Boeing 737-300 and 737-400 Classics. Garuda is yet
to specify an engine choice for its sharklet equipped, new build A320s, which will start to
arrive in 2014, nor the A320neos (from 2016) but its current search for IAE
V2500 powered used A320s could hint at a preference for V2500 power on its new A320s and also perhaps PW1100G powered A320neos. This would, however, represent something of a
switch for the carrier, whose entire combined narrowbody fleet consists of over 70 CFM56 powered Boeing 737s of various models.
The new Airbus deal was part of a planned $6.5 billion investment
which is to be used primarily to fund a fleet expansion from 85 to 154
aircraft by 2015. A company spokesman also stated that Garuda Indonesia
plans to spend $329 million on adding seven more new build aircraft by
the end of 2011. These are thought to include its first two of ten
planned Boeing 777-300ERs and at least three more Boeing 737-800s
(the backlog is10). The carrier also has six more Trent 700 powered Airbus A330-200s on order.
Why not:
Posted
Fri, Aug 26 2011 7:47 AM
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