Delta

US-based Delta Air Lines has placed an order for 15 Airbus A321ceo aircraft, worth $1.65bn at list prices, to offset jets being retired.

To be powered by CFM56-5B engines from CFM International, the newly ordered A321ceo aircraft are scheduled for delivery starting in 2018.

Currently, the airline operates a large fleet of Airbus aircraft, including 126 A320 family jets and 32 A330 jet.

The latest order brings the carrier’s backlog to 45 single-aisle Airbus A321s and ten widebody A330 aircraft.

Delta fleet strategy and transactions vice-president Nathaniel Pieper said: "The A321’s economic efficiency and product offering relative to the aircraft they will replace ensures that this opportunistic transaction will enhance profitability, customer satisfaction, and shareholder value for Delta."

"The latest order brings the carrier’s backlog to 45 single-aisle Airbus A321s and ten widebody A330 aircraft."

All Delta’s new A321 aircraft will feature fuel-saving Sharklets, lightweight composite wing-tip devices that deliver 4% fuel-burn savings, offering the airline the option of extending its range up to 100nm /185km or increasing payload capacity by around 1,000lb /450kg.

Airbus Customers chief operating officer John Leahy said: "Airbus is excited to offer Delta comfortable and efficient aircraft that fit its demanding financial and customer satisfaction goals."

The majority of Delta’s A321s will be delivered from the aircraft maker’s brand-new A320 family assembly line that is currently under construction in Mobile, Alabama.

Aircraft assembly at the plant will begin next year, with the facility expected to produce four aircraft per month by 2017.

Image: Many of Delta’s A321ceos will be delivered from Airbus’s new US A320 family final assembly line. Photo: courtesy of FIXION – GWLNSOD / Airbus SAS.

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