The airline Blue Wings, together with its shareholder Alpstream, has signed a contract with Airbus for 20 A320 Family aircraft, confirming a commitment announced during the Farnborough air show in July this year. Blue Wings is a German airline, based in Dusseldorf, in which Swiss investment holding Alpstream AG, based in Zurich, has a substantial holding. Alpstream AG is an affiliate of the Russian National Reserve Corporation.

Blue Wings' order comprises 16 A320s and four A321s, seating 150 and 210 passengers respectively. The engine selection is still to be made, but is in line with the flexibility offered by the Airbus Single Aisle Family. The airline will increase its operations by starting new routes from Germany to destinations in Turkey and the CIS, primarily on behalf of tour operators.

"Our signature under the Airbus contract follows our decision in favour of the A320 Family that we made this summer”, said Jörn Hellwig, Member of the Alpstream AG Board and CEO of Blue Wings. "We are looking forward to introducing the aircraft on routes between Germany and growing markets, offering customers and passengers more comfort and choice", he added.

"The order by Blue Wings underlines the continuing success of the A320 Family in the market place", said Louis Gallois, Airbus President and CEO, and co-CEO of EADS. "The airline's choice clearly demonstrates the superiority of the Airbus single-aisle product range as the most modern product available in that segment", he added.

The A320 Family, recognized as the benchmark single-aisle aircraft family, includes the A318, the A319, the A320 and the A321 versions and features the newest and most modern design of any single-aisle airliner, with a passenger-pleasing cabin. By the end of June 2006, more than 4,300 Airbus A320 family aircraft have been ordered worldwide, making it the most successful and the best-selling aircraft. Almost 2,800 A320 Family aircraft have been delivered to around 180 operators worldwide so far.

Airbus is an EADS company.

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