Airbus Delivers A320neo to Lufthansa
German carrier first to receive new plane after end-year deadline missed
A jet engine of the Airbus A320neo. Lufthansa was the first carrier to receive delivery of the new plane from Airbus on Wednesday. ENLARGE
A jet engine of the Airbus A320neo. Lufthansa was the first carrier to receive delivery of the new plane from Airbus on Wednesday. PHOTO: REUTERS
By ROBERT WALL
Jan. 20, 2016 11:07 a.m. ET
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Airbus Group SE made the first delivery of its newest airliner, the A320neo, to Deutsche Lufthansa AG on Wednesday, after missing an end-of-year deadline.
Airbus was forced to delay the first delivery of its new plane, initially planned for December, after it and engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp., failed to get all required documentation ready in time.
Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr said, "We are pleased to be the first airline in the world to take possession of the Airbus A320neo today.”
He said the event signaled the German carrier’s commitment to introducing advanced technology. The airline will introduce 52 new planes this year alone, Mr. Spohr said. The company’s Swiss International Air Lines unit is due to receive the first CSeries jet built by Canada’s Bombardier Inc. this year as well.
The A320neo, for a new engine option, will be 15% more efficient than existing narrowbodies, the Toulouse, France-based manufacturer has promised. The plane features new engines, designed to consume less fuel, and other enhancements.
Toulouse-based Airbus has already booked more than 4,400 orders for the new plane, making it its fastest selling aircraft. The A320 family of planes being replaced first entered service in 1988.
Fabrice Brégier, CEO of Airbus’s jetliner unit, called the milestone “a truly great day” for the company.
Strong demand drove Airbus to decide last year to boost output of single-aisle planes. The aircraft maker plans to build at least 60 A320-type planes a month from mid-2019. It currently builds on average 42 planes a month.
The A320 underpinned Airbus’s success to become the biggest rival to Boeing Co., the world’s largest plane maker. Airbus’s A320neo has outsold Boeing’s 737 Max, a similar upgrade the Chicago-based company is making to its narrowbody jet. Boeing plans to deliver the first 737 Max aircraft in 2017.
Qatar Airways, which was due to be the first A320neo operator, stepped back from that position while engine maker Pratt & Whitney worked on some upgrades.
Airbus also is working with a joint venture with General Electric Co. and France’s Safran SA on an alternative engine for the A320neo family of jetliners. Planes powered by that engine are planned for first customer deliveries later this year.
Airbus is building three versions of the new plane, which typically seat between 140 and 240 passengers. The smallest version, the A319neo, has a list price of $97.5 million, with the largest version, the A321neo, retailing for $124.4 million. Airlines typically get hefty discounts from those prices.
The first A320neo was delivered from Airbus’s production facility in Hamburg. The company also builds single-aisle jets in Toulouse and Tianjin, China, and is setting up a final assembly line in Mobile, Ala. Airbus plans to deliver the first of the single-aisle planes built in the U.S. to JetBlue Airways Corp. in the spring.
Lufthansa has ordered 101 of the upgraded jets, with plans to take 61 A320neo models and 40 of the slightly larger A321neo version, according to Airbus’s order book.