As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the aviation industry, airlines are finding ways to minimize costs. Some are retiring old aircraft while some are laying-off their workforce in large numbers. Similarly, many airlines are trying to defer aircraft deliveries from manufacturers. British Low-Cost Carrier, EasyJet has also been trying to defer deliveries for their Airbus A320neo aircraft orders from Airbus.
An EasyJet A320neo landing at LEMG. Photo by Jero Vida | AeroNewsX
On June 16, 2020, the airline announced that it has come to an agreement concerning aircraft deferrals with Airbus. According to its finalized deferral plan, the airline has pushed back 32 deliveries. 8 aircraft meant to be delivered in Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 will be delivered in FY2022, and 24 aircraft planned for delivery between FY2020-22 will now be delivered five years later, between FY2025-27.
easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren said: “The changes agreed defer capacity in the medium term while continuing our long-term strategy of replacing our older fleet with the advanced and lower fuel burning A320NEO family.”
EasyJet ordered these aircraft in 2013, and, according to the initial agreement with Airbus, EasyJet was subject to a substantial discount. However, the airline would have to pay for any inflation at market prices concerning material and labor costs. This clause of the 2013 agreement remains unchanged. The airline is still to receive the discount, but the price for the future aircraft will increase by up to £95 million.
In this new agreement, EasyJet can defer two to seven aircraft until December 2020, which are set to be delivered between FY2020 and FY2026. Following this announcement, easyJet’s share price shot up 7% to 821.4GBX on Tuesday, June 16th, 2020, as reported by the London Stock Exchange.
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