Spirit Airlines and Airbus signed today at the Dubai Airshow a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 75 single-aisle aircraft, comprising 45 A320neo and 30 A320s. The engine selection will be announced later.
The new aircraft will be used on Spirit’s targeted growth markets in the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America.
The A320neo has over 95 percent airframe commonality making it an easy fit into existing fleets while offering up to 500 nautical miles (950 kilometres) more range or two tonnes more payload. The A320neo reduces fuel burn by 15%, which is equivalent to 1.4m litres of fuel – the consumption of 1000 mid size cars. This saves 3600 tonnes of CO2 per aircraft per year, the amount of CO2 absorbed by 240,000 mature trees. The A320neo aircraft also has a considerably smaller noise footprint.
Including today’s announcement, firm orders and commitments for the Airbus A320neo, launched less than a year ago in December 2010, already exceed 1,300 from 23 customers and makes the aircraft the fastest selling airliner ever.
Source: Airbus