Thomas Cook Airlines receives first new A320 for its UK fleet

Thomas Cook Airlines took delivery today of the first new Airbus A320 that has been purchased for its UK fleet. This A320 will be operated from London Gatwick and Manchester airports, and will serve holiday destinations around the Mediterranean. The aircraft joins a fleet of 23 Airbus A320s aircraft already in service with Thomas Cook's airline operations in the UK, Belgium and Germany.

Thomas Cook's new A320 will be powered by environmental friendly CFM56-B4 engines, and features a comfortable single-class layout with new cabin interior colours in Thomas Cook's design. Airbus single-aisle aircraft have the widest cabin cross section in its class, thus offering wider seats and wider aisles for the best cabin comfort. Furthermore the A320 Family offers the biggest overhead bins in single-aisle aircraft for a more convenient storage of modern roll-aboard luggage.

With the arrival of the new A320, Thomas Cook Airlines will further benefit from Airbus' unique operational commonality. The wide-body Airbus A330-200, already in operation with the airline, shares virtually identical flight decks, on-board systems and handling characteristics with the single-aisle A320. This commonality allows crews and engineers to be trained on both single-aisle and wide-body aircraft, substantially reducing operational costs for the airline. An operational advantage that is only possible with Airbus aircraft.

Designed to optimise passenger comfort and maximise cost savings, the A318, A319, A320 and A321 form the world's most profitable and best-selling single-aisle aircraft family. All derived from the same fuselage, the A320 Family provides operators with the highest degree of commonality and economy for aircraft in the 107-185 seat category. Depending on seasonal demand airlines can thus easily switch from one Airbus aircraft to another to sustain maximum profitability.

With nearly 350 A320 Family aircraft in operation or on order for the European low-fare and tourism industry, Airbus is the clear market leader in this segment

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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