Brussels Airlines To Take 3 New A320neos In 2023
Brussels Airlines has today announced that it will take delivery of three Airbus A320neo aircraft in 2023. The news comes following a meeting between the Lufthansa Group Executive Board and the Board of Directors of SN Airholding. The airline says that the three new state-of-the-art aircraft will allow it to modernize its fleet further.
Furthermore, the addition of the new aircraft will significantly lower the airline’s medium-haul CO2 emissions and help lower noise levels over incoming and outgoing flight paths. Brussels Airlines was also keen to point out that it will be the first time in the airlines’ 19-year history that it will be receiving new aircraft directly from the factory.
Brussels Airlines wants to replace its A319s
When speaking about the new planes in the statement, CEO of Brussels Airlines Peter Gerber said:
“As a responsible airline with ambitious sustainability targets, it’s crucial for us to continue our path of further modernizing our fleet. Thanks to our mother company Lufthansa, we are, for the very first time in our 19 year-long history, able to replace the older A319 Airbus with three modern and fuel-efficient aircraft that will leave the Airbus factory by summer 2023.
“Compared to our A319 aircraft, the three A320neo will allow a noise contour reduction of 50% and reduce fuel use and CO2 emissions by 11% per flight. Furthermore, thanks to the higher seating capacity of this ultra-modern Airbus, the fuel use and CO2 emissions per seat will decrease by 30%.”
Brussels Airlines chief operating officer (COO) Edi Wolfensberger then weighed in with his thoughts on how the new aircraft will help the Lufthansa Group airline not only lower CO2 emissions but harmonize its medium-haul fleet, saying:
“Needless to say, that we are extremely enthusiastic to welcome the Airbus A320neo in our fleet. The modern General Electric CFM engines of the Airbus A320neo are renowned for their fuel efficiency and lower noise contour.
“Next to that, the three new aircraft will bring us closer to our target of a fully harmonized A320 medium-haul fleet to aircraft only, herewith further reducing the complexity of our Maintenance & Engineering activities and the whole operation. Due to the high similarity with the current fleet, the crews are able to operate the new aircraft after a short familiarisation; this makes the integration seamless.”
Brussels Airlines is committed to reducing CO2
By investing in new planes when the aviation industry has seen its worst-ever year thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brussels Airlines shows how committed the Lufthansa Group is to lowering CO2 emissions. The Groups sustainability target is to reduce its 2019 CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030 and become CO2 neutral by 2050.
Compared to the older Airbus A319 aircraft that are to be phased out, the Airbus A320neo burns 11% less full and cuts noise levels by 50%. Also, because the A320neo has a larger capacity (27%), the fuel use per seat is reduced by 30% compared to an A320 without the new engine option. The neo option uses 16% less fuel than the old option and reduces CO2 emissions by 16% while carrying the same number of passengers.
According to the aviation data and statistics website, ch-aviation, Brussels Airlines has a fleet of 46 aircraft comprising the following planes:
- 18 x Airbus A319-100s
- 16 x Airbus A320-200s
- 12 x Airbus A330-300s
As you can see from the above figures, Brussels Airlines relies heavily on the Airbus A319. The average age of its A319 fleet is over 16-years-old. This means that to harmonize its medium-haul fleet, other A319s will have to be swapped out for other Lufthansa Group A320s.
No comments:
Post a Comment