Tunisair takes delivery of its fourth Airbus A320neo
According to Airbus, Tunisair's A320neo offers a performance allowing a fuel saving of 15 to 20% compared to the first A320 family. It also has the particularity of offering significant reductions in CO2 emissions of up to 20% and almost 50% for nitrogen oxide emissions.
Tunisair has taken delivery of its fourth Airbus A320neo. The aircraft (TS-IMA, MSN 11137) will make a ferry flight from Toulouse to Tunis on Saturday, December 3, 2022.
Like the first three aircraft, which were delivered in December 2021 (MSN 10575), February 2022 (MSN 10631) and October 2022 (MSN 11070) respectively, the new aircraft has a double-class configuration that can accommodate up to 150 passengers, including 12 in business class.
According to the delivery schedule, a final aircraft is expected in 2023. These acquisitions were made under a Sale and Lease Back (SLB) agreement with lessor SMBC Aviation Capital in October 2021. As part of the SLB transaction with the Irish lessor, the company benefited from a cash return of the advance funds (approximately '73 million) raised from the European manufacturer Airbus.
The fleet replenishment is in line with the airline's recovery plan, which aims, among other things, to rejuvenate the fleet to less than 10 years old, compared to the current 13.7 years. The average number of aircraft available for operation during the third quarter of 2022 was 14, out of the 27 aircraft registered on the carrier's operating licence.
The other part of the turnaround covers the reduction of staff, the rationalisation of the network with the elimination of loss-making routes and the recapitalisation and partial privatisation of some activities not essential to the operation of the airline.
