Air New Zealand gets new All Blacks Airbus A320

Air Lease Corporation (ALC), the aircraft financing and leasing company, has taken delivery of its first brand new A320 aircraft directly ordered from Airbus and to be leased to and operated by Air Ne

Air Lease Corporation (ALC), the aircraft financing and leasing company, has taken delivery of its first brand new A320 aircraft directly ordered from Airbus and to be leased to and operated by Air New Zealand.

Air New Zealand has designed a one-off livery for the new aircraft as part of its Crazy About Rugby campaign, evoking the colours of New Zealandโ€™s world famous national rugby team, the โ€œAll Blacksโ€.

It is the first of two A320s powered by IAE to be delivered to ALC and operated by Air New Zealand.

โ€œWe are very pleased to be delivering the first A320 from our aircraft order with Airbus, to Air New Zealand. The aircraftโ€™s bold all black livery speaks to the success of Air New Zealand as one of the worldโ€™s most innovative and leading airlinesโ€ said Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, ALCโ€™s Chairman and CEO.

โ€œThis is the first of our new Airbus domestic fleet, with thirteen more A320 aircraft due to be delivered over the next five years,โ€ said Rob McDonald, Air New Zealandโ€™s Chief Financial Officer. โ€œThe aircraft will enable us to increase capacity on routes that are beginning to face capacity constraints at some airports during peak times.

โ€œWe expected something special to mark the first Airbus delivery to Steven Udvar-Hazyโ€™s new company, ALC, and the Air New Zealand A320 lives up to this. The livery is every bit as stunning as the performance and comfort of the aircraft. We wish both ALC and Air New Zealand a championship year,โ€ said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers.

The aircraft is part of an ALC order for 31 A320s and 20 A321s placed at the Farnborough International Air-Show in 2010.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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