Summary
- EgyptAir is selling all 12 of its Airbus A220-300 aircraft to aircraft leasing company Azorra.
- The sale of the A220s is a component of EgyptAir’s fleet transformation, allowing the carrier to accumulate recent Airbus widebody aircraft.
- Azorra has strong partnerships with Airbus and Pratt & Whitney and sees the well-maintained A220s as attractive to its growing airline customer base.
EgyptAir is offloading all of its 12 Airbus A220-300 aircraft, selling them off to the aircraft leasing company Azorra. All 12 aircraft of the sort are owned by the airline, which implies that it could get a major money boost following the transaction.
Young fleet of A220s
Nonetheless, EgyptAir’s fleet of Airbus A220-300 aircraft is comparatively young, with ch-aviation data showing that, on average, the subtype fleet is 4.1 years old. Airbus delivered probably the most recent A220 in September 2020, having delivered the airline’s first aircraft of the sort exactly a 12 months prior.
In response to a report by the aviation analytics company Cirium, the transaction was a part of EgyptAir’s fleet transformation, and the phasing out of its A220s will enable the carrier to accumulate recent Airbus widebody aircraft. Meanwhile, John Evans, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Azorra, said that the lessor’s strong partnerships with Airbus and Pratt & Whitney, the supplier of the PW1500G engine, the exclusive option for the A220 family, have been critical to facilitating the transaction.
Photo: Airbus
Evans added that the aircraft are young and well-maintained and have freshly overhauled engines, which were also updated by the aircraft manufacturer. Moreover, the CEO noted that the aircraft have strong demand out there, making them attractive to Azorra’s growing airline customer base. Currently, the aircraft lessor manages a fleet of 95 aircraft, six of that are the Airbus A220-300s.
In January 2022, Azorra ordered 22 Airbus A220 aircraft, split between 20 A220-300 and two Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) 220s. On the time, Evans remarked that the A220 was ideally suited to the lessor’s growing portfolio and that the corporate was excited to position the aircraft with airlines in due time. In response to Airbus Orders & Deliveries filings, the manufacturer has not delivered any A220s yet as of December 31, 2023.
Meanwhile, the manufacturer delivered all 12 Airbus A220-300s to EgyptAir between September 2019 and September 2020. Over the past few months, the airline has continued to scale back the variety of one-way flights that its A220-300s were scheduled to operate. In December 2021, the airline had scheduled 1,149 flights with the sort, its busiest month with the A220-300 since its first delivery, in accordance with data by the aviation analytics company Cirium.
Nonetheless, the airline had repeatedly wound down the variety of flights it might operate with the sort. In December 2023, January 2024, and February 2024, EgyptAir scheduled 484, 502, and 400 flights with the A220-300, respectively. Between April 2024 and September 2024, the sort has fewer than 100 itineraries.
EgyptAir Takes Delivery Of Its First Airbus A220
Engine woes
While the Airbus A220-300, powered by the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G, has not suffered from the identical issues because the PW1100G, which has forced many airlines operating the Airbus A320neo family aircraft to ground their aircraft, A220-300 operators have also struggled with the engine.
Photo: Airbus
airBaltic has been on the forefront of the problems, with the Latvian airline repeatedly expressing frustrations with the supply and maintenance delays related to the engine. Nonetheless, these issues have also affected other operators, including EgyptAir.
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