Airblue to Procure Ten Airbus
Daily Times

ISLAMABAD, Aug 04: Airblue will purchase eight airbus A320-200 and two airbus A330-200 aircraft from Airbus Industries for an estimated cost of $ 790 million.

It was told by Chief Operating Officer-Air Blue, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in a press conference here Thursday after signing the deal with Vice President Sales-Airbus, Abdellah Sbai.

Khaqan Abbasi said that Airblue currently operates three A320 aircraft and is the first operator of the Airbus A320 aircraft in Pakistan. He said the Airblue has completed a year of the successful operation on the A320 with over 98 per cent reliability for its fleet.

Abbasi said the deal for the private sector in Pakistan Aviation has been made possible by the recent allocation of International routes to the private airlines by the Ministry of Defence and Civil Aviation Authority. "The new A320 aircraft will be used for additional frequencies and destinations on domestic and regional routes, while the new A330 aircraft will be used for newly allocated routes to the United Kingdom," he added.

Airblue and Airbus signing ceremony in Islamabad for the acquisition of 10 airbus aircrafts. Stephane Latieute,Director Sales; Abdullah Sabi, Vice President Sales of Airbus; Airblue COO, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi; and Jehangir Siddiqui shaking on the deal.

The new generation A320 aircraft have fly-by-wire technology and will have a configuration of 20 seats in Business class and 126 seats in Economy class. They will be equipped with the latest in Cabin IFE and gallery equipment.

The new-generation wide-body A330 aircraft have fly-by-wire technology and will have a configuration of 30 seats in Business Class and 248 seats in economy class. They will be equipped with the latest on In-Seat IFE and Gallery Equipment. The deal also includes a support package to provide training to Airblue Pilots, Engineers and Cabin crew at Airbus facilities.

"Airblue will be able to start induction of additional aircraft on routes to the Gulf and United Kingdom from November 2005", Abbasi said. He said the induction of these aircraft will provide join opportunities to over 600 Pakistani aviation professionals including pilots, engineers and ground staff.

He hoped that annual additional contribution to the National

GDP is estimated to be over Rs.5 billion. app