AIR CANADA TAKES DELIVERY OF ITS 100TH AIRBUS AIRCRAFT

A330-300 flies into Le Bourget for ceremony

Air Canada has taken delivery of its 100th Airbus aircraft and today flew it to the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget to show it off to the world. The Trent 700-powered A330-300 is the 18th Airbus A330/A340 widebody for the airline, in addition to its fleet of 82 A320 Family aircraft.

“We’re very pleased to be able to showcase our most recent aircraft at the Paris Air Show today,” said Robert Milton, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada. “Airbus aircraft continue to be winners for us from the perspective of economy technology and comfort.”

“We have watched with great interest and admiration as Air Canada has grown as an airline and as a customer,” said Noël Forgeard, Chief Executive Officer of Airbus. “We now have four North American customers which have either surpassed or are approaching the 100-Airbus aircraft mark. When we started in business some 30 years ago, some people doubted that Airbus could ever break into the U.S. and Canadian market, much less with the great success we have experienced. We take great joy in three decades of proving those critics wrong.”

Air Canada has a long history of breakthroughs with Airbus, including:

- First A321 Order from Air Canada: 2000

- First Delivery of an A330 to Air Canada: 1999

- First North American airline to order the A340-500/-600: 1998

- First North American airline to fly the A319: 1996

- First North American airline to fly the A340-300: 1995

- First airline in Canada to take delivery of an A320: 1990

There are nearly 700 orders for the market-leading A330/A340 family from 58 customers. The A330/A340 Family is comprised of the A330-200, A330-300, A340-200, A340-300 and the most-recently-launched A340-500/-600, which will enter into service next year.

Headquartered in Toulouse (France), Airbus is an EADS joint Company with BAE SYSTEMS.