Aircraft

Work has begun at Lasham airfield in the UK to dismantle one of five ex-British Airways A320-100s that the airline is retiring.

BA’s plan to retire its ageing fleet of CFM International CFM56-powered twinjets emerged in mid-2006, and the aircraft pictured below (G-BUSD/MSN0011) was ferried to Lasham late last year for parting out.

© AJ Best

BA has a fleet of ten CFM56-powered A320s – five -100s and five -200s - which were originally ordered by now defunct British Caledonian (BCal) in 1983. They were delivered to BA new in the late 1980s when the airline absorbed the order following its take-over of BCal.

G-BUSD is one of two A320-100s that UK spares specialist AJ Water Aviation (AJW) has acquired from BA. The second aircraft is due to be delivered to AJW in February next year. The other eight A320s are on operating lease and will be returned to their owners “over the next few years”, says BA.

External links - British Airways