CIT Aerospace to order 50 Airbus Aircraft
Toulouse, le 24 juillet 2000
CIT Aerospace, an operating unit of the CIT Group, a leading United States based financial services corporation, has executed a firm letter of intent for the purchase of 35 Airbus single-aisle aircraft, as well as 15 Airbus A330s. This major repeat order, coming only two years after CIT first became an Airbus customer, includes all members of Airbus' A320 Family, including the 107-seat A31 8, and also reflects CIT's decision to become a launch customer for Airbus' newly planned A330-500 aircraft, which remains subject to launch. The order provides for significant flexibility within the A330/A340 Family of aircraft and will be converted to other members of the family in the event that the A330-500 is not launched. With this order, CIT wilt now be able to offer airlines around the world a broad choice of Airbus aircraft, ranging from the smallest A318 to the A330-300 widebody twin and potentially the ultra-long range four-engine A340. CIT's Nikita Zdanow, a Group Chief Executive Officer, said that this significant investment decision was based on CIT's strong growth outlook In the aviation field and its success with the financial performance of the Airbus portfolio. C. Jeffrey Knittel, President of CIT Aerospace added, "We are a strong believer in the market's need for new aircraft in the 200 to 276 seat segment. The A330-500, with its unique payload and range capability, its economic characteristics, as well as its commonality with both the smaller A320 Family and larger Airbus A330/A340 Family aircraft, truly opens new potential for any type of airline in this segment." Noel Forgeard, Airbus's Chief Executive Officer, expressed his gratitude to CIT and said, "Although our relationship with CIT is relatively young, it has become a very strong and promising one. We are impressed with CIT as a major distributor of our aircraft and are gratified by the vote of confidence of this renowned financial institution. CIT's endorsement of the A330-500 project is a very valuable step in the development of this new programme and underscores again that, besides being outstanding, Airbus aircraft also represent very attractive financial investments." CIT already has 25 Airbus single-aisles and five A330 twin-aisles on order. This early repeatorder for Airbus' best-selling A320 Family and market-leading A330/A340 Family, would bring the total number of Airbus aircraft ordered by CIT to 80 units in just over two years.
Airbus Industrie, July 24th
