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Sichuan Airlines receives maiden A321neo
June 1st 2018
Chengdu-headquartered Sichuan Airlines has taken delivery of its maiden Pratt & Whitney GTF-powered A321neo. Read More »
The aircraft, B-8682, or MSN7895, was ferried from the Airbus facilities in Hamburg Finkenwerder to Chengdu via Koltsovo International Airport, the international airport serving Yekaterinburg.
Sichuan Airlines plans to deploy the A321neo on domestic and regional routes from June.
The A321neo will join the carrier’s current fleet comprising 23 A319ceo (16 owned), 55 A320ceo (35 owned), 5 A320neo (leased from AerCap and ALC), 38 A321ceo (34 owned), six A330-200s (two owned) and six A330-300s (two owned).
The full-service carrier is expecting to take delivery of four additional A321neo this year, all sourced from lessors.
Sichuan Airlines will also grow its widebody fleet this year after signing lease deals with AerCap and ALC for four A350-900s. The three XWBs from AerCap were originally ordered by SriLankan Airlines but later cancelled amid financial instability. The first -900 is due in Chengdu in June. Sichuan Airlines, an all-Airbus operator, has also flagged the possibility of introducing A330F cargo aircraft to its fleet, although no orders or leasing contracts have been signed at this stage.
The airline recently announced a Chengdu-Zurich A330-200 route, which was originally to begin in March but was later postponed to late June. The twice-weekly Zurich flights will be an extension of the airline’s existing Chengdu-Prague route.
The airline also serves Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney, Los Angeles and Vancouver from cities in Mainland China.
