Indian Launch Customer For The Aircraft

India's Kingfisher Airlines has taken delivery of four A321 narrowbody aircraft. Their first A321 was delivered to the Mumbai-based airline in late October 2006, in Hamburg, Germany. The deliveries make Kingfisher Airlines the Indian launch customer for the largest member of the A320 family.

All the aircraft are powered by International Aero Engines.

To date, Kingfisher has ordered a total of 43 A320 Family aircraft. Originally, Kingfisher had ordered four A320s in 2004... but this order was amended in 2006 to four of the larger A321 aircraft.

"We are delighted to have the opportunity of expanding our relationship with Airbus who have been excellent business partners," said Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman of Kingfisher Airline's parent company UB Group (shown in the photo above). "Kingfisher will be the first airline to introduce the Airbus A321 aircraft in India. Given our growth and market share that we have achieved, I look forward to doing more business with fine partners such as Airbus".

"Kingfisher has grown quickly and has already become one of the most dynamic airlines in the world," said Airbus COO John Leahy. "Airbus is delighted to be a partner in Kingfisher's lofty ambitions. We are particularly delighted they have chosen the A321, thus becoming a launch customer in India."

Kingfisher is a rapidly growing force in Indian civil aviation already and has become one of the country's largest airlines. It already flies 10 Airbus A320s and three Airbus A319s on domestic routes and will receive 30 more single aisle aircraft from Airbus in the near future.

Earlier, Kingfisher placed firm orders for five Airbus A380s, five A330s and five A350s for use on long-range international and regional services. So far, Kingfisher's Airbus Family fleet will grow to more than 60 aircraft.

The A321 has a range of up to 3,000nm and can seat up to 185 passengers in two classes, and up to 220 in a single class. The A319, A320 and A321 are unique in their class in offering a containerized cargo loading system, which is compatible with the worldwide standard widebody system. This reduces ground equipment and handling costs.

The A320 Family has the widest single-aisle fuselage on the market and features the most modern and complete fly-by-wire technology available on any single-aisle aircraft.

FMI: www.flykingfisher.com, www.airbus.com