Switzerland’s flag carrier SWISS has taken delivery of its first Airbus A320neo aircraft. The Lufthansa Group airline collected the aircraft from a gloomy-looking Hamburg earlier today.
As Airbus continues churning out A320neo aircraft, more and more airlines are taking delivery of their first from the type. For example, last week we saw Greek airline Aegean reveal its new livery on the first neo it received. Now it is the turn of Switzerland’s flag carrier, SWISS. Earlier today, the airline welcomed its first A320neo to the family. Other Lufthansa Group airlines have already received A320neos.
First A320neo for SWISS
SWISS has now taken delivery of its first Airbus A320neo. The airline has 25 of the aircraft on order, meaning that 24 remain outstanding. Parent airline Lufthansa received its first Airbus A320neo over four years ago in early 2016.
So far, the German flag carrier has taken delivery of 23 A320neos. These are registered from D-AINA to D-AINX. However, D-AINS is missing from the collection for some reason. The Lufthansa Group is a large Airbus A320 family customer. The group has over 400 active aircraft from the family; 425 to be exact. This is divided between 226 Airbus A320s, 111 Airbus A319s, and 88 Airbus A321s according to Planespotters.
SWISS fleet update
According to Planespotters, SWISS now has just under 100 aircraft in its fleet. This accounts for around 12 percent of all Lufthansa Group aircraft. Apart from 12 Boeing 777 aircraft, the SWISS fleet is exclusively comprised of Airbus aircraft. This consists of:
- 29 Airbus A220s;
- Two Airbus A319s;
- 20 Airbus A320s;
- Nine Airbus A321s;
- 14 Airbus A330s;
- Five Airbus A340s;
- 12 Boeing 777s.
Across its fleet, SWISS’ average aircraft age is 9.8 years. However, if you only look at the Airbus A320 family of aircraft, this is significantly higher at around 19.5 years. Of course, the introduction of the newer A320neos, will significantly help to bring this down. The airline’s youngest fleet is the Airbus A220 with an average age of just 2.3 years, however, last year SWISS was forced to temporarily ground this fleet of aircraft.
What sets the Airbus A320neo apart from the A320?
Simple Flying previously did a full comparison of the Airbus A320ceo against the Airbus A320neo. If you’re interested you can read that here. However, let us briefly explain it. Neo stands for new engine option.
With new technology such as sharklets, tied with the new engines, the A320neo’s fuel consumption is 20 percent less than that of the previous generation A320. The A320neo has proved popular with airlines, accumulating over 7,300 orders over the last decade.
Would you like to fly on the new SWISS Airbus A32neo? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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