Aer Lingus said today it will buy 12 Airbus planes in a move that will see it double its long haul fleet by 2014.
This includes six A330-300E and six A350 XWB aircraft, valued at $2.4 billion at catalogue prices, with deliveries commencing in 2009. Substantial discounts off the catalogue prices have been negotiated, Aer Lingus said.
It added it will also be granted the option to buy a further six A350 XWB aircraft for delivery by 2018.
Aer Lingus CEO Dermot Mannion said: "Following the successful IPO last autumn, in which we raised significant capital, we are pleased to announce this investment in new long haul aircraft.
"These aircraft are key to our growth ambitions which include new routes to the US following the Open Skies agreement. The aircraft will complement our existing Airbus fleet and enhance our long haul network whilst offering a superior product to customers."
Earlier today, the airline said its passenger load factor - the measure of how full its aircrafts were - for May rose by 1 point to 77.3 per cent, but its year-to-date load factor fell 2 points to 74.1 per cent.
For May, the low cost airline said passenger traffic rose 5.2 per cent to 815,000 passengers compared with 775,000 last May while year-to-date passenger traffic rose 5 per cent to about 3.55 million passengers.
The airline's short-haul traffic in May rose 5.4 per cent to 718,000 passengers over last year while long-haul traffic rose 3.2 per cent to 97,000 passengers, the release said.
