Airbus Welcomes Entry Into Service of First Airbus A321 in SAS
Toulouse, 10 December 2001
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) today starts operation of its first A321. It is the first of twelve ordered Airbus A321 single-aisle aircraft. With the start of this operation, SAS becomes a new operator of the market leading Airbus A320-Family. As SAS’ A321s are named after Scandinavian Vikings, the first aircraft in service was christened “Arne Viking”.
The Scandinavian carrier, which jointly serves the markets of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, will use its A321s for Scandinavian trunk routes, such as between Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo and for destination to major European capitals. The A321s for SAS are equipped with V2500 engines from International Aero Engines.
SAS will profit from the unmatched cabin comfort Airbus offers with its A320-Family, which consists of the A318, A319, A320 and A321. The widest and most spacious cabin in the single-aisle category allows SAS to offer long-range comfort on short haul routes. SAS will operate its A321s with a flexible layout, which can accommodate 41 business class seats and 119 seats in economy (in total 160 seats) to a maximum of 184 seats.
With the introduction of the Airbus A321 SAS will also start using containerized cargo handling on Scandinavian and European routes. The A320-Family is the only modern single-aisle aircraft able to accommodate containerised cargo. This will not only have positive effects on loaders’ work environment but it will also ensure a very short turn around time.
In summer this year, SAS introduced their first Airbus long-range A340s to serve SAS’ routes to India, Asia and North America. SAS will benefit extensively from the unique operational cockpit commonality in Airbus’ fly-by-wire aircraft. It allows pilots to fly all Airbus next generation aircraft with only minor additional training and are thus able to mix long-haul and short-haul routes for a more efficient and motivating operation.
Offering the most modern and comprehensive airliner family in the world, Airbus is the joint number one manufacturer in the market for large commercial aircraft. To date, the Airbus family of aircraft has won some 4,400 orders from more than 180 customers. Headquartered in Toulouse, France, Airbus is an EADS joint Company with BAE SYSTEM.
