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Jetstar’s first A320neo has arrived in Australia after a ferry flight from Toulouse.
The aircraft, VH-A5A, touched down in Melbourne at 11:41pm on Sunday, 24 November, having flown via Kuala Lumpur according to data from FlightRadar24. It was spotted in flight testing late last month at Airbus’ facility in France.
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VH-A5A is the first of 13 A320neos on Jetstar’s order books up to the 2029 financial year, and forms part of the Qantas Group’s wider fleet renewal program.
“We’re refreshing our short haul domestic and international fleet with our first A320neo due to touchdown next month (November), the first of five by mid-2025,” a Jetstar spokesperson said in October.
“These new aircraft will support us to grow capacity and gradually replace our existing aircraft. Our 18th new Airbus A321neo LR arrived last week from a pipeline of new Airbus aircraft.”
In general, the A320neo replaces the IAE V2500 and CFM56-5B engines on the original A320 (the A320ceo) with Pratt & Whitney 1100G-JM and CFM LEAP-1A engines while being slightly larger. The A320neo also features an updated cabin and curved ‘sharklet’ wingtips that increase fuel efficiency.
Jetstar has already been updating its fleet with the A321neo LR, with the first, VH-OFE, having arrived in 2022.
According to Jetstar, the A321neos deliver 99.8 per cent mechanical reliability, are 50 per cent quieter than similar size Airbus A320/A321s, and burn up to 20 per cent less fuel.
Qantas has also ordered 28 new A321XLR aircraft to gradually replace its mainline 737-800s, with the first expected to arrive in April 2025. It began pilot training for the A321XLR in August.
