Jet2 takes first A321neo, wet-leases two A321ceo
Jet2 (United Kingdom) (LS, Leeds/Bradford) has taken delivery of its first A321-200NX and sourced an additional two A321-200s under a two-year seasonal wet-lease contract.
G-SUNB (msn 11379) was registered in the United Kingdom on March 31, 2023, and delivered from Hamburg Finkenwerder to East Midlands for final repainting on April 1. On April 5, it was repositioned to Manchester International, but has yet to enter revenue service, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.
The aircraft is the first of sixty-three A321-200NX ordered by Jet2 plc from Airbus. The leisure-oriented low-cost carrier ordered the initial batch of 34 aircraft in August 2021 but has since gradually upped its commitment. The aircraft will replace Jet2's ageing fleet of B737-300s (currently numbering seven aircraft with an average age of 25.1 years), B737-800s (84 aircraft with an average age of 13.7 years), and B757-200s (eight units, 32.5 years old on average).
However, as the airline strives to add more capacity for the busy summer season, it has also signed a long-term wet-lease commitment with Titan Airways (ZT, London Stansted) covering two A321-200s. G-POWN (msn 3830) started operating on behalf of Jet2 out of London Stansted on March 31, 2023. The other unit, G-POWU (msn 3708), has yet to be deployed into service on behalf of the LCC. Titan Airways said both wet leases would run through early November 2023 and will repeat during the Summer 2024 season.
Jet2 also operates a small in-house subfleet of three A321-200s, as well as one more unit of the type wet-leased from Hi Fly (5K, Beja).
