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The countdown for Air Malta’s all brand new fleet continues with the delivery of the 10th new aircraft just delivered from Airbus. The aircraft, an A320 with registration 9H-AEO, was named ‘Isla - Citta' Invicta’ and is the 2768th aircraft of the type manufactured by Airbus. 9H-AEO has already started operating from the airline’s Malta base.
The aircraft will be joining the 4Airbus A320 and 5Airbus A319 already delivered by Airbus. The last two brand new Airbus A320 aircraft are scheduled to be delivered to Air Malta in February and March next year thus completing the airline’s fleet replacement project.
9H-AEO is equipped with the latest state-of-the-art equipment including a recently developed Rockwell Collins weather radar to further enhance the information available to cockpit crew and increase the already high standards of aircraft safety enjoyed by Air Malta. This new radar will also be installed on Air Malta’s other A320 aircraft.
To celebrate this milestone delivery, Airbus invited over Air Malta’s CEO, Joe Cappello to officially handover the aircraft. Upon arrival at the Airbus main manufacturing plant in Toulouse, France, Cappello was greeted by senior Airbus officials including Patrick Gavin, Airbus Executive Vice President Customer Services, Christopher Buckley, Airbus Executive Vice President Europe, CIS, and Latin America, Peter Bennett, Airbus Vice President Sales of Western Europe, Capt. Jean Michel Roy, Airbus Vice President Training and Eric Jullien, Airbus Regional Sales Director.
A group of Air Malta engineers together with their Airbus counterparts spent a week in Toulouse doing the final tests and checking that the aircraft matches the specifications as laid down by Air Malta. A number of test flights were also operated. Capt Laurence Gatt flew the final ‘acceptance flight’ over the skies of Toulouse where the aircraft was tested to the limits of its design envelop.
Air Malta boasts of a young fleet which by next year will have an average age of 2.5 years and will be one of the youngest fleets in Europe and throughout the world. The new fleet has brought substantial advantages and cost savings arising from fleet commonality. |
