North African airline Tunisair, celebrating its 60th anniversary this year,has signed a firm contract with Airbus for the acquisition of three A350-800s, three A330-200s and ten A320s, as part of an important fleet development plan that will modernise and expand the fleet of this growing airline. With this acquisition, that follows an initial agreement announced last April, Tunisair is the third African airline to order the all-new A350 XWB. Tunisair currently already has 12 A320s, four A319s, and three A300-600s in operation.

The all-new, eco-efficient A350s will provide the right aircraft at the right time for the long-term development plans of Tunisair for long haul routes to North America and Asia. Meanwhile, theA330s will allow the airline to modernise its wide-body fleet and seamlessly enter the long haul market, shortly opening new routes to North America with themost modern and cost efficient aircraft available today.

“With this firm order, Tunisair underlines its positive business outlook and can now start putting its plans into action and prepare for the future,both nearer and further out, with the right aircraft,” said Mr. Chettaoui, President and CEO of Tunisair group.

“The A330s and later on the A350 will really allow us to develop our long haul market, while our A320 fleet, which is already performing extremely well, will be further expanded. And with these products, our customers will be benefiting from the most efficient and comfortable aircraft in the market today”, he continued.