Aer Lingus may unveil order for A350XWB today

Hello all just to clarify the two A330’s that EI have new this year
(EI-DUO A330-200 & EI-DUZ A330-300) are the baseline models they are not the X model or E model, there’s no such thing as A330-200E!,there been loads of confusion over on a.net about this which i find very funny!

Another point about the A330-300E is that northwest airlines were the launch customer for this aircraft,aer lingus are not,(another point missed on a.net!),to the best of my knowledge the E model incorporates avionics & cabin improvements derived from the A340-600/500 family,it has the same range as the A330-300X which has a slight increase in weight and therfore range over the baseline 300 model which by the end of june aer lingus will have 5 in total.This A330 order means that EI will still need the A330-200’s in the fleet to fly west coast USA routes as the 300E doesn’t have the legs for,up until the A350’s come,the new A330 order is a gap filler for EI to do the east coast bread & butter stuff,but i believe EI will lease addtional A330-200’s until the A350’s come and then try and somehow source more A350’s from lessors,as a small fleet of 6 A350’s is gona cause problems in a fleet of A330’s as if an A350 goes tech,the A330-300 might not be able to cover due to range limits,

All in all aer lingus needs to transition to an all A350 long haul op as soon as it gets the first one;)

Does anyone know what the differences are with the ‘E’ version over what they have thanks.

Great news , althoug Aer Lingus had allready decided on this order for a few weeks now . Good boost for the XWB program !

Good news:cool: But whats an A330-200E & A330-300E they new updated verison off the A330?

James

Yes, the ‘E’ means Enhanced

Good news:cool: But whats an A330-200E & A330-300E they new updated verison off the A330?

James

Whoever in the right mind thought they would go Boeing .Not an AvB comment. Its just they went all Airbus for commonality reasons so only makes sense they would stay Airbus and get a better deal by horsetrading Boeing.

Good news for Airbus and Aer Lingus!

Article and picture at FI

They’ve announced it now…

So A350s and A330s

Aer Lingus to take six A350s and six A330-300s
London (06Jun07, 09:53 GMT, 217 words)

Irish carrier Aer Lingus has decided on six Airbus A350 XWB and six A330-300E aircraft for its fleet renewal, enabling it to double its long-haul fleet by 2014.

Alongside 12 firm aircraft, Aer Lingus also intends to take options on six more A350s. Deliveries of the new aircraft would begin in 2009 with the A330s. The six additional A350s to be optioned are for delivery by 2018.

Aer Lingus, which already operates seven Airbus A330-200/300s, began its long-haul fleet expansion last month when it took delivery of a new General Electric CF6-powered A330-200E. A new A330-300E follows this month to take its long-haul fleet to nine.

“The transaction announced today will bring the long haul fleet to fourteen aircraft in 2014 through the delivery of five additional aircraft and the replacement of three older aircraft,” the airline says. “A further four aircraft will be replaced in 2015 and 2016.”

Airbus CEO Dermot Mannion says: “These aircraft are key to our growth ambitions which include new routes to the US following the Open Skies agreement. The aircraft will complement our existing Airbus fleet and enhance our long haul network whilst offering a superior product to customers.”

Aer Lingus says the planned order is subject to shareholder approval, which will be sought at a specially convened extraordinary general meeting.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news