PrivatAir selects A319 long-range for Lufthansa flights

Business aviation specialist PrivatAir has selected the A319 Long-Range for the nonstop, scheduled, international transatlantic service that it will operate on behalf of Lufthansa, becoming another launch customer for this new way of using the aircraft.

PrivatAir will take delivery of the first of two new A319LRs in May, when it will begin nonstop business-class only flights from Dusseldorf to Newark (New York). The second A319LR will be delivered in June, when it will start nonstop flights from Dusseldorf to Chicago. Both are new aircraft being leased by PrivatAir from CIT Aerospace.

"With over 25 years of experience in the business, we know what to look for in a business jet, and the A319LR is going to be a tremendous aircraft for the Lufthansa business travellers that we will be flying," says PrivatAir CEO Greg Thomas. "Premium passengers want the best in comfort and service, and the A319LR is going to play a key role in helping us to deliver exactly that."

Each A319LR will seat 48 passengers in a generous four-abreast business class at 60 in-pitch, allowing PrivatAir to offer an exclusive premium service, and each will be powered by IAE V2500 engines.

"When you have a modern and flexible aircraft family, there are always new opportunities opening up, as PrivatAir is showing with the A319LR," says Airbus President and CEO Noël Forgeard. "And when the companies pursuing them are as well respected in their fields as PrivatAir and Lufthansa, you know that they are going to be successful."

Derived from the popular A319 airliner, the A319LR has a number of Airbus Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) features, such as up to four additional centre tanks in its cargo hold, for intercontinental range.

With both European JAA and American FAA approval, the A319LR and ACJ are the only business jets certificated for public transport on both sides of the Atlantic.

Airbus' A320 family features the most modern design plus the most spacious cabin of any aircraft in its class, delivering unmatched passenger comfort and unparalleled economy and reliability. Already a firm favourite with bizjet customers via the ACJ - as well as with airlines - the A320 family consistently leads in independent passenger surveys, and is widely recognised as the benchmark in its field.

Airbus is an EADS joint Company with BAE SYSTEMS.

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