950824

Airbus holds

50pc aviation

market

TOULOUSE: Airbus Industrie, a joint venture of France, Germany, Spain and UK, has got 50 percent of the world aviation market and its short, medium and long-haul routes aircraft remain the world's most popular for air travel, reports PPI special correspondent.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been an A300 operator since 1980, and currently flies nine of them. It received its first A310 in June 1991, and now has six.

A group of Pakistani journalists currently visiting Toulouse at the invitation of Airbus Industrie was told by the officials at the headquarters here that the largest aircraft in the Airbus Industrie aircraft family, the A340 features four engines and is the first brand-new long-haul aircraft to enter service in more than 20 years, and has the longest range of any airliner in the world.

The A340 Airbus entered service in early 1993 and today, some 100 A330s and A340s are in service with more than 20 operators worldwide.

With the longest range of any airliner in the world, the four-engine A340 is the most economical design for long distance flights - while also retaining efficiency on shorter sectors.

Airbus Industrie's A340 has kept its promises on range and economy and is now flying many ultra-long non-stop flights - including from Europe to South-Africa, South America and Asia, and from the Middle-East to North America. From Karachi, the A340 can fly non-stop to New York or Australia.

The officials said that four engines give the A340 inherently better take-off performance in high temperatures and at high-altitude airports. They also give unlimited flexibility on long-haul routes over remote areas.

Meanwhile, Airbus Industrie presented the latest member of its product line to the world on Thursday, with the roll-out of the first 124 seat A319 twin-jet at the Daimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus Otto Lilienthal final assembly facility in Hamburg, Germany.

Attended by some 500 guests, including representatives from Launch Customers, Air Canada, Air Inter, ILFC, Lufthansa, and Swissair, the ceremony was based on the theme of the Airbus Industrie family design concept which was highlighted by the positioning of the A319 alongwith the six existing models of the consortium's comprehensive product line.-PPI