The UK carrier Jet2 has made an agreement with Airbus to purchase 36 of the Airbus A321-200Ns with the option for an additional 24 of the variant. The British airline and holiday group unveiled the deal to buy the A321 aircraft from Airbus on Tuesday, August 31st, worth $4.9 billion.
The place of the order of new Airbus aircraft is anticipated to meet the future demand in the leisure travel segment to upgrade the airline’s fleet. The orders placed by the Je2 for A311Neo will be delivered in five-year periods until 2028. Jet2 plans to finance the huge number of Airbus aircraft through a combination of internal resources and debt.
The huge order for the new variants from the Airbus family reflects the British carrier’s ambitious fleet expansion and renewal plans; Jet2, as of now, however, hasn’t made the selection of the engines for the aircraft that are going to carry its legacy.
The Execute Chairman of Jet2, Philip Meeson, on the agreement, said that the airlines would be proud to operate the Airbus A321neos in the years ahead. The leisure carrier considers the A321neo variant from the Airbus family one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly aircraft in the single-aisle segment in today’s market. Jet2 expects the modern aircraft from Airbus will provide the customers a wonderfully comfortable and enjoyable flying experience as they travel with the airlines to their holiday destinations.
Jet2, traditionally having been operating the non-fly-by-wire aircraft, after testing a couple of leased Airbus A321neos and ran comprehensive evaluation of the aircraft, finally deciding to invest in the modern and future proof Airbus fly-by-wire technology aircraft.
The big order of the new variants from Airbus also turns the page on the difficult 16 months that the UK travel industry had to go through due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Compared to the rest of the world, the pandemic travel restrictions have lasted longer in the UK; the fears over last-minute rule changes have hampered many bookings, followed by the waves of holiday cancellations and restrictions over the year. With the effective vaccination and ease of travel restrictions globally, the UK travel market has anticipated a surge in travel after almost two years of restriction and bans, Jet2 with its modernized fleet, plans to meet the demand for air travel in the post-pandemic world.
The Jet2’s network focuses on connecting the major cities of United Kingdom to the popular holiday destination like Greece, Turkey, Portugal, Cyprus, Croatia, Malta, Jersey, Italy, Iceland and it largest holiday market, Spain wit its expansion of the fleet.
The Airbus A320neo variant with a new engine option, the PurePower PW1100G-JM from Pratt & Whitney and the LEAP-1A from CFM International, is one of the top contenders of the commercial segment among other popular Airbus products. Airbus introduced the A320 neo products line as one of the world’s most advanced fuel-efficient aircraft in the single-aisle aircraft family featuring the fuel-saving wingtip devices Sharklets. The new generation engines powered with Sharklets deliver a 20% reduction in the fuel consumption per seat that can deliver an additional range of up to 500 miles or two tonnes of extra payload.
Aircraft designated for the British leisure carrier will be configured for 232 seats with an Airspace cabin that will feature lightings, new seating products, and up to 60% larger overhead baggage bin for the additional personal in-flight storage.
The British leisure carrier currently operates with two of the Airbus A321-200s with an average age of 6.2 years, seven of Boeing B737-300s with an average age of 23.4 years, seventy-five of Boeing B73737-800s with an average age of 12.1 years, and eight of the Boeing B757-200s variants with an average age of 30.9 years. Out of its fleet of Boeing and Airbus aircraft, Jet2 owns forty of the lot, and the rest of the fifty are leased.
