easyJet retires its 400th plane: how many (and which) planes major low-cost airlines have in their fleets
April 9 was a day of celebration for easyJet: the low-cost carrier collected its 400th [...]
Wizz Air
Vueling
Volotea
Ryanair
easyJet
Last April 9 was a day of celebration for easyJet: The low-cost carrier has withdrawn its 400th aircraft, a Airbus A321neo. The ceremony of "delivery of keys" of the new airplane - featuring a special livery, with the 400 number consisting of miniature aircraft - was held in Finkenwerder In Airbus' production facility dedicated to the A320 program.
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After the ceremony, the brand-new A321 took off for Berlin Brandenburg Airport, where easyJet has one of its bases as well as a maintenance site: there technicians will complete the final checks before entry into service. The inaugural flight was also fueled with a mixture at the 5% of SAF fuel: This is the first time sustainable fuel has been used for an easyJet flight from Germany.
About the delivery of the 400th aircraft David Morgan, Chief Operating Officer of easyJet, said, "We are truly delighted to receive our 400th aircraft from Airbus-a delivery that also coincides with our 20th anniversary of operations in Germany. As we continue our fleet renewal program with more fuel-efficient and quieter A320neo family aircraft, we are proud to continue working with Airbus and CFM, who both have a solid approach to sustainability in manufacturing and continue to be reliable partners for easyJet."
Benoit de Saint Exupery, EVP for Sales, Commercial Aircraft at Airbus, he added, "This is a clear sign of the company's commitment to minimizing fuel consumption and emissions through the use of the latest generation of aircraft. It took easyJet just over 20 years to deliver its 400th Airbus aircraft, with an impressive average of 20 new Airbus aircraft deliveries per year since 2003."
The delivery of this new aircraft is only the first in a long series: As we have written in the past few months, easyJet carried out a maxi order of Airbus, which includes. 56 A320neo and well 101 A321neo.
La A320 family of Airbus is the most common among low-cost airlines: in addition to easyJet-which owns 331 such aircraft, including A319s, A320s and A321s-also Vueling (with 124 aircraft), Volotea (with 42) and Wizz Air (with 203 aircraft) have a fleet consisting solely of this type of aircraft.
The only low-cost company to go against the grain in this regard is Ryanair. In fact, the Irish carrier headed by the tempestuous Michael O'Leary owns - considering subsidiaries - only Boeing 737, in the -700, -800 and MAX 8-200 versions: with a total of 553 specimens, Ryanair is the world's second largest operator of Boeing 737 family aircraft after the star carrier Southwest Airlines; the only Ryanair subsidiary to use A320 family aircraft is Lauda Europe, which has nearly 30 or so A320-200s in its fleet.
