New Chinese private airline, Juneyao Airlines receives its first A319

Juneyao Airlines, a new Chinese private airline headquartered in Shanghai, received its first A319 on 13 September 2006 at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, becoming a new Airbus operator on the Chinese Mainland. The new leased A319 is configured in a two-class layout with eight business class seats, providing comfortable seating for a total of 128 passengers. The aircraft is to make its maiden commercial flight in the coming weeks.

"We are very pleased to welcome the first Airbus A319 joining our fleet. It marks that co-operation between Airbus and our company has entered into a new phase," said Wang Junjin, President of Juneyao Group. "After making extensive comparison between various aircraft models, we finally selected the Airbus A320 family to build our commercial fleet. We believe that the A320 family aircraft will help us offer unmatched comfort to passengers. Moreover, the low operating costs and unique family commonality of the aircraft will ensure a smooth take-off of our business."

Approved by the General Administration of the Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) in June 2005, Juneyao Airlines started business in Shanghai with registered capital of 150 million Yuan. In March 2006, Junyao Airlines signed lease contracts with GE Commercial Aviation Service (GECAS) for eight A320 family aircraft, including two A319's and six A320's. By January 2007, Juneyao Airlines will receive two more A320 family aircraft to serve on several domestic trunk routes connecting Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Taiyuan, Changsha and Sanya.

"We are very proud to welcome Juneyao Airlines as a new Airbus operator in China," said Airbus' President and CEO Christian Streiff. "Selection of the A320 family aircraft, once again, underscores that it is the aircraft of choice for new airlines. We are very glad to see that more private airlines in China have chosen A320 family to kick off their business in recent years. We hope to further develop our co-operation with Juneyao Airlines in the future."

With 40 million flight hours to date, more than 4300 aircraft ordered and over 2,700 aircraft delivered, the A318, A319, A320 and A321 make up the world's best-selling single-aisle aircraft family with more than 170 operators worldwide.

The A319, first delivered in April 1996, continues to prove its versatility, enabling carriers to benefit from its range options and seat layout flexibility. In addition to the standard 124-seat model, which has a range of up to 6,800 km/3,700 nm, Airbus offers an option allowing increased seating efficiency with typically up to 156 seats.

Headquartered in Toulouse Airbus is an EADS joint Company with BAE Systems.

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