OREANDA-NEWS. After a successful summer holiday season of 2013 Small Planet Airlines is returning two of its oldest aircraft to the owners. Instead of these aircraft, the company has signed agreements regarding 3 newer Airbus A320-200 aircraft. In total, the fleet of the airline will be comprised of 10 aircraft next year, one of which will be a stand-by unit.

 At the end of August Small Planet Airlines signed agreements with Aircastle and CIT Aerospace to lease 3 Airbus A320-200 aircraft. From next spring one of them will be based in Lithuania, another one in Poland and the third one will be a backup aircraft.

 “We are already preparing for the next season. We signed the agreements regarding additional three A320s with deliveries in February, March and April 2014. This will ensure that the start of the next season will be smooth”, - CEO of Small Planet Airlines Vytautas Kaikaris said.

 According to Mr. Kaikaris, the backup aircraft will allow to protect the passengers in case of irregularities much more quickly than before thus reducing potential long delays significantly.

“When our fleet was comprised of 3-4 aircraft, a backup unit was a luxury which we couldn’t afford. However, as the company is expanding, a backup aircraft will not only increase the level of our services, but also is a financially sound decision. The fact that we have leased a backup aircraft gives us a considerable competitive advantage over other smaller airlines”, - commented the CEO of Small Planet Airlines.

 The lease of new Airbus A320 aircraft is in line with fleet renewal strategy of Small Planet Airlines. In three years the company reduced the number of Boeing 737-300 aircraft from 4 to 1, whereas the number of Airbus A320s grew from 2 to 9 as the airline rapidly expanded in the UK, France and Poland.

 Due to the advanced technology, comfort of passengers and flight economy, Airbus A320 is the most popular narrow-body aircraft produced by Airbus. It has up to 180 seats and can travel 5700 km distance by reaching the maximum speed of 900 km/h.