Could Israir Become The Next All A220 Airline?
With new investors backing it up, Israeli airline Israir is keenly looking ahead to better times. New owners Rami Levy and Shalom Haim picked up a controlling stake in the carrier for some $48.7 million, and anticipate doubling their money, eventually. In a bid to make inroads on this ambition, CEO Uri Sirkis says that the current fleet of seven planes will be swapped out entirely for seven Airbus A220s.
有了新的投資者的支持，以色列航空公司熱切地期待著更好的時代。新所有者拉米·列維(Rami Levy)和沙洛姆·海姆(Shalom Haim)以4,870萬美元的價格獲得了該航空公司的控股權，並預計他們的投資最終會翻一番。為了實現這一目標，該公司執行長烏裡•瑟基斯表示，目前的7架飛機將完全被7架空客A220所取代。
The Airbus A220 has proven to be a popular plane, racking up 630 orders from 22 airlines and lessors. While operators including Delta and Air Canada are enjoying their new planes, no airline is quite so invested as European airline airBaltic.
Since the onset of COVID, airBaltic has accelerated the retirement of its remaining Boeing 737s and has now become the world’s first airbus A220-only airline. It’s a fact that CEO Martin Gauss is incredibly proud of, even retraining on the new type to understand the aircraft inside out.
空客A220已被證明是一款受歡迎的飛機，從22家航空公司和租賃公司獲得了630份訂單。儘管達美航空(Delta)和加拿大航空(Air Canada)等航空公司都在享用它們的新飛機，但沒有哪家航空公司的投資能比得上歐洲的波羅的海航空公司(airBaltic)。自新冠肺炎爆發以來，波羅的海航空加快了其剩餘波音737飛機的退役，目前已成為世界上首家只使用空客A220的航空公司。
But could airBaltic soon be joined by another airline as an all-A220 operator? According to Israir CEO Uri Sirkis, it’s a definite possibility. Speaking to Israeli publication Globes, the CEO said,
但是波羅的海航空會不會很快被另一家全A220的航空公司所取代呢?根據Israir執行長Uri Sirkis的說法，這是絕對有可能的。在接受以色列出版物《環球》採訪時，這位執行長表示，
「At the same time as we updated the lease contracts … we have formulated an equipment plan: the seven Israir planes will be replaced by seven Airbus 220s.」
「在我們更新租賃合同的同時……我們制定了一項計劃:7架以色列航空飛機將被7架空客A220取代。」