PrivatAir receives its first Airbus A319

Business aviation specialist PrivatAir has received its first Airbus A319 at the Airbus delivery centre in Hamburg, Germany. This is the first Airbus aircraft in PrivatAir's fleet, making the airline a new Airbus operator. The aircraft delivered now is the first of four A320 Family aircraft that PrivatAir will take on lease from CIT Aerospace. All four aircraft, two A319 airliners and two A319 Long Range (LR), will be powered by IAE V2500 engines from International Aero Engines.

The two A319 airliners will be operated mainly for Airbus internal services between the company's head quarters and biggest site in Toulouse, France, and two other big facilities in the Airbus system: Bristol/Filton in the UK and Hamburg in Germany. The routes will be served five days a week, Monday to Friday. With a capacity of 126 seats in a single-class layout, the PrivatAir A319s offer reliability, lower unit costs as well as a significant upgrade for Airbus passengers on these routes compared to previous services with older-generation regional aircraft.

The two remaining A319LRs will be used to operate Lufthansa's new non-stop all-business-class services between Düsseldorf and Chicago as well as the one established last year between Düsseldorf and Newark, operated by PrivatAir from June 2003. On these services, PrivatAir's A319LRs will seat 48 passengers in a high-comfort four-abreast arrangement with a seat pitch of 60 inches, allowing Lufthansa to offer an exclusive premium service.

The A319LR is the latest addition to the Airbus A320 Family of aircraft, combining the performance capabilities of the Airbus Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) with the qualities of a premium-class airliner. In a standard cabin layout, the A319LR features an all-business class layout with 48 seats and carries up to 35,400 litres/9,350 US gallons of fuel, allowing it to fly up to 4,500 nm/8,250 km in this configuration.

The A320 Family comprises the A318, A319, A320 and A321, offering the highest degree of economy and passenger comfort for aircraft seating from 100 to 220 passengers. The ACJ, a longer-range version of the A319, can fly as far as 6,000 nm/11,100 km with 12 passengers on board.

The A319LR allows profitable airline services on intercontinental routes, such as from Europe to North America, or from Japan to Eastern Europe and to Australia. Unlike competing aircraft, the A319LR features the full range of state-of-the-art airliner qualities and equipment, such as CATIIIB autoland capabilities, ETOPS certification, EGPWS, FANS provisions and TCAS II installation, making it the most capable aircraft and superior choice in this market 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

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