As the 100th Airbus customer, the German low-cost carrier Air Berlin has joined the Customised Lead Time (CLT) service for Airbus aircraft spare parts. Air Berlin will take delivery of Airbus A320 aircraft as from September 2005 and has a total of 60 firm orders plus additional 40 purchase options.

As subscriber to the CLT service, Air Berlin will benefit from minimised capital expenditure in Airbus spares parts as well as reduced order administration costs, significantly reducing maintenance cost for the airline, flying A320s across Europe.

The CLT service enables Airbus customers to benefit from the just-in-time supply of a wide range of spare parts. The concept allows customers to specify their required lead time for their ordered parts. Lead time requirements can go as low as two hours dispatch time compared to conventional practise to accept lead times offered by the parts supplier.

Airbus customers can join the programme right from the beginning of their Airbus operation and are able to capitalise on savings from reduced inventory holding costs for their Airbus proprietary parts.

The CLT program was offered to customers in 1997 for the first time and has gained significant popularity ever since with 100 worldwide customers participating today, representing over two thirds of the fleet of Airbus aircraft in operation.

The CLT service offers this just in time spares supply service at no additional costs and without any contractual bindings or requirements to Airbus customers. Customers generally consider the service to be a very appropriate approach to support customer cost saving efforts.

A leading aircraft manufacturer with the most modern and comprehensive product line on the market, Airbus is a global company with design and manufacturing facilities in France, Germany, the UK, and Spain as well as subsidiaries in the U.S., China and Japan. Headquartered in Toulouse, France, Airbus is an EADS joint Company with BAE Systems.



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