Jazeera Airways expands A320neo fleet
Kuwaiti operator Jazeera Airways has taken delivery of two new Airbus A320neo aircraft under a sale and leaseback agreement with CDB Aviation.
In July CDB Aviation confirmed a sale and leaseback transaction with Jazeera Airways for two new A320neos.
Last month, chief executive officer Rohit Ramachandran said Jazeera Airways was accelerating its A320neo programme deliveries.
“We managed a very innovative agreement with some aircraft lessors as well as Airbus to swap slots and, as a consequence, expedite the first two aircraft from our aircraft order. They were supposed to be delivered in <20>26, but we took the opportunity presented by some Russian airlines who could not take delivery of their aircraft for obvious reasons and we are getting our first two aircraft under our very favourable commercial terms. They will be joining our fleet in the middle of September,” he said during the carrier’s second-quarter earnings.
During the April-June period Jazeera Airways added one wetlease aircraft to its fleet to meet travel demand during the summer peak season, bringing total operational aircraft to 18 units. The aircraft will be released later this month.
According to Ramachandran, Jazeera Airways will receive four new aircraft next year and another three in 2024.
Jazeera Airways will return one aircraft to its lessor at the end of its lease in January next year.
“We would like to achieve a net increase of three airplanes next year and three airplanes the year after, which would then take us to between 24 and 25 aircraft by the end of 2024,” he commented.
The low-cost carrier is continuing its expansion phase with new summer destinations to launch in the third quarter, such as Bhairawa in Nepal and Salala in Oman. It added Prague, Vienna, Abha, Hail, Qassim in the summer.
In January Jazeera Airways signed a purchase agreement for 28 new A320neo-family aircraft, converting a memorandum of understanding first agreed with the European manufacturer last year.
The deal covers 20 A320neos and eight A321neos with deliveries to be decided “at a later stage”, Jazeera said in a filing at the time.
The order marked Jazeera’s first step towards direct purchases of the Neo family. It currently operates a fleet of 17 A320-family aircraft including nine A320neo models leased from orderbooks from ALAFCO, Avolon and ICBC Financial Leasing, according to Airfinance Journal’s Fleet Tracker.