Aviation
SAS orders eight Airbus A350s, four A330s
Struggling Scandinavian carrier SAS said it had signed a provisional
order for 12 Airbus aircraft, including eight A350-900s and four
A330-300s, with a list price of $3.3 billion (2.5 billion euros).
Deliveries of the A330s are to begin in 2015 and the A350s in 2018,
under the terms of the memorandum of understanding. SAS said it had also
signed an option for six more A350-900s and an upgrade of passenger
cabins on up to seven A330/A340s.
The upgrade, to be completed by 2015, would consist of new seats
throughout the cabin including fully flat seats in business class, and
throughout the entire cabin a new high definition full video on demand
in-flight entertainment system.
The order “marks the launch of SAS's long haul renewal plan,” the
company said in a statement.
“The great technological improvements of this extensive fleet renewal
plan give SAS a long haul fleet that will be top of (the) class in the
industry,” SAS chief executive Rickard Gustafsson said. “It will truly
increase our competitiveness and strengthen our customer offering - both
with regard to comfort, service and efficiency. Furthermore, we are able
to significantly bring down fuel consumption which will lower our costs
and support our goals to reduce emissions,” he said.
SAS, which has reported losses for five years running, is in an
intense restructuring process after several savings packages failed to
yield results.
According to SAS, the company's fleet currently consists of 19 Airbus
and 74 Boeings.
AFP
The LH-10 Ellipse, a revolutionary surveillance aircraft
created by French small and medium enterprise LH Aviation,
is presented at Le Bourget airport, near Paris, during the
50th International Paris Air show. 32-year-old Sebastien
Lefebvre, CEO of LH Aviation, won on June 20 at Le Bourget a
contract worth 13 million euros to deliver ten of his LH-10
Ellipses to Jet Energy, a company based in Dubai. AFP |
|