Airbus and West Atlantic
03-Jun-2011 Following the announcement that Airbus is to discontinue the A320 conversion programme West Atlantic Sales Director Russell Ladkin expressed his disappointment with the news. West Atlantic were the launch customer for the aircraft and expected to take delivery of the first converted unit late next year.
"This is a disappointment," he said, "With increasing fuel costs, an efficient freighter was a key part of the decision process to select the A320 over the established competing products. Lowest unit cost is everything and we'll now be working with our customers to find the right solution for the capacity niche we saw the A320 fill".
West Atlantic is also the Worlds principal operator of the BAe ATP turboprop with 43 of the type in the fleet. It is the largest dedicated regional freight airline in Europe.