Azman Air Services, one of Nigeria’s domestic carriers has taken delivery of a wide-bodied Airbus A340-600 aircraft with plan in the offing to commence international flight especially the airlift of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
The latest addition to the fleet will be the 6th aircraft operational under Azman Air. The aircraft is an Airbus A340-600 from the leasing company European Aviation Group. The aircraft once flew with Virgin Atlantic.
Azman Air in a statement said it had secured an Airbus A340-600 with the registration 2-EALJ. This particular aircraft is 14 years old and previously had the registration G-VYOU, flying with a single airline: Virgin Atlantic. The jet is powered by four Rolls-Royce Trent 556-61 engines according to Airfleets.
According to Airbus, the A340-600 is the largest-capacity member of Airbus’ A340 family, with an overall length of 75.36 metres and accommodations for 320 to 370 passengers (or 475 in high-density seating).
The aircraft which can be used effectively in commercial, corporate or government operations, includes state-of-the-art technologies such as weight-saving composite structures and a fuel-saving aerodynamic design, along with pilot-friendly cockpits, flight controls and systems.
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The acquisition of the aircraft came after about two years when the airline returned its only wide-bodied aircraft to Egypt’s Air Leisure, the charter company where the aircraft was leased from. The aircraft it returned then was A330-200 aircraft which was acquired in October 2017. The aircraft was never deployed for any international operation throughout the six month period it was on ground.
It would be recalled that the plane with over 260 passenger capacity was ferried from Malam Aminu Kano to Cairo International Airport on March 22. It was learnt that the development might not be unconnected with the expiration of the lease agreement. However, the newly acquired aircraft is expected to be deployed for the airline’s international flights including charter Umrah and Hajj operations.
