No-frills carrier AirAsia India has joined the league of Airbus A320Neo operators in the country with its first such plane arriving at the New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport from the European aviation major's Toulouse manufacturing facility on Wednesday, the airline said.
AirAsia India welcomed its first 186-seater Airbus A320neo (new engine option), which arrived in New Delhi on October 21 from Airbus's production facility in Toulouse, France, the airline said in a release.
Till now, national carrier Air India, Tata-SIA joint venture Vistara and budget carriers IndiGo and GoAir have been operating the fuel-efficient A320Neos along with other types of aircraft.
While IndiGo and GoAir have Pratt & Whitney engines powering these planes, Air India and Vistara's A320s have CFM engines fitted on these planes.
In June last year, IndiGo had placed a USD 20 billion order for CFM LEAP-1A engines to power 280 A320neo and A321neo aircraft.
The order includes supply of spare engines and overhaul of engines.
Our A320neo is fitted with LEAP-1A engines by CFM International and features large, fuel-saving wingtip devices known as Sharklets, AirAsia India said.
The Bengaluru-based airline is a 51:49 joint venture between Tatas and AirAsia (Investment) Ltd.
The airline celebrated the induction of its 31st aircraft registered VT-ATD at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, with a crew consisting of senior pilots, cabin crew and engineers, it added.
The remaining 30 planes in its fleet are A320s.