ALAFCO Places Another Big Order With Airbus
Toulouse, 13 November 2006
ALAFCO, the Kuwait-based international Aviation Lease and Finance Company, has signed a firm contract for six Airbus A320s. The contract comes on top of an order for 12 Airbus A350s with options on a further six A350s that were booked in 2005.
ALAFCO’s main shareholder is Kuwait Finance House. ALAFCO specialises in Sharia-based commercial aircraft leasing.
“ALAFCO believes that there will be a strong demand for the A320 family aircraft during the coming years and is positioning itself to meet such demand from regional and international carriers", says Alafco Chairman and CEO Ahmad Alzabin. “The new planes will carry the Airbus hallmarks of cabin comfort and economy into a new decade, and are unquestionably the right aircraft for our customers and their passengers.”
“Airbus is delighted to be a partner in growing aviation markets around the world. The Middle East region is one of these. ALAFCO’s order demonstrates continued strong demand from the leasing sector for Airbus aircraft”, said Louis Gallois, Airbus President and Chief Executive Officer, and EADS co-CEO. “The advanced fly by wire technology and cabin flexibility in the A320 give operators the optimum benefits in cost-effectiveness without compromising passenger comfort”, he added.
The A320 has the widest single aisle fuselage on the market, and was designed to optimise revenue through cabin flexibility and passenger comfort.
All members of the A320 family share the same type rating. This allows pilots to fly all of them and a single team of mechanics to maintain the fleet, thus reducing maintenance and training costs and helping make the A320 cheaper to operate than the competition.
Uniquely, the A320 family offers a containerised cargo system which is compatible with the world wide standard wide-body system.
Airbus is an EADS company.
Contact
| Airbus Press Department | 31707 Blagnac Cedex France | www.airbus.com mailto: media@airbus.com |
