EasyJet has taken delivery of its first A320neo — its 300th A320 Family aircraft and the first of 130 A320neos on order.
Airbus has delivered easyJet’s first A320neo, which is also the airline’s 300th A320 Family aircraft, at a ceremony in Toulouse attended by easyJet CEO Carolyn McCall, CFM International CEO Gaël Méheust and Airbus CEO Tom Enders.
The aircraft, powered by CFM LEAP-1A engines, is configured in a 186 seat layout. To mark the occasion and to distinguish the neo fleet, the aircraft has a specially designed neo logo on the fuselage.
The first easyJet A320neo will be based out of London Luton Airport and operate its first commercial flights in June to Amsterdam, Madrid and Edinburgh.
From its first A320 Family delivery in 2003, easyJet has grown to operate Europe’s largest A320 Family fleet and is also Europe’s largest customer for the A320neo, with 130 orders.
In May 2017, easyJet upsized orders for 30 A320neo with 186 seats to the larger capacity A321neo with 235 seats for growth at slot-constrained airports. The first A321neo delivery is expected in July 2018. This is part of the existing easyJet Airbus framework agreement signed in 2013.
McCall declared that, with the addition of the A320neo and A321neo and with further planned efficiency improvements, easyJet has set itself a new carbon emissions target of 72 grams by 2022 — a 10% reduction from today’s performance and a 38% improvement from 2000.