Xiamen Air welcomes new airbus to its fleet

Xiamen Air recently took the delivery of its very first Airbus aircraft, an A321neo, in Hamburg, Germany, and the carrier held a welcoming ceremony in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Jan 1. The aircraft is on lease from CMB Financial Leasing, making the airline a new Airbus A320neo family operator.

Xiamen Air's A321neo aircraft is powered by CFM International LEAP-1A engines and configured in a two-class layout with 208 seats, with eight seats in business class and 200 seats in economy class. The A321neo serves as the largest member of Airbus' single-aisle A320 family aircraft.

The latest delivery came as the domestic air travel market continues to recover from COVID-19 and followed the optimization of China's prevention and control policy on the pandemic.

"Following a comprehensive evaluation, Xiamen Air decided to switch to Airbus for its fleet growth. We thank Xiamen Air for their trust in Airbus, and we will fully support the smooth operation of its Airbus fleet," said George Xu, executive vice-president of Airbus and CEO of Airbus China.

Xu added that the delivery of the new aircraft and the future A320 family fleet is expected to play a positive role in boosting the growth of Xiamen Air in the post-pandemic era.

"The first Airbus aircraft delivered to Xiamen Air indicates the beginning of a new era of cooperation between the two sides and it bears a great significance. While enriching the existing fleet, it also helped with the stable expansion of the fleet of Xiamen Air," said Qi Qi, an associate professor at Guangzhou Civil Aviation College.

In September, Xiamen Air signed a deal to buy 40 A320neo planes from Airbus. Before, the fleet of Xiamen Air was mostly comprised of B737 and B787 series made by US aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co.

In addition, during the 14th Zhuhai Airshow in November, Airbus signed agreements with Xiamen Air, Zhejiang Loong Airlines and Colorful Guizhou Airlines to promote the use of sustainable aviation fuel for commercial flights in China.

Over the next two decades, China is expected to show a demand of 7,090 single-aisle aircraft, Airbus. By 2041, China is expected to need 6,370 single-aisle planes, Boeing predicted.