Yemenia, the official carrier of the state of Yemen, based in Sanaa, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 10 Airbus A320 Family aircraft. The agreement was signed at the 2009 Dubai Airshow by Saleh Alawaji, Yemenia Member of the board of directors on behalf of Captain Abdulkhalek Al-Kadi, Chairman of Yemenia and John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer, Customers.

Yemenia’s A320s will be configured in a comfortable two-class configuration with seating for 12 passengers in Business Class and 138 in Economy. The aircraft will be deployed to enhance and expand services on regional, African, Indian and European routes. It will enable Yemenia to demonstrate its role as a growing regional carrier and contributor to the growth of Yemen’s economy.

Saleh Alawaji, said: “Our long term strategy is to grow with an integrated fleet of super efficient and reliable aircraft. The A320 shares operational and maintenance commonality with our existing Airbus’, and will bring added efficiencies. The A320 will also offer our passengers the best cabin comfort in its class.”

“We are honoured Yemenia is showing such confidence in our aircraft, and has chosen our products to springboard their ambitious expansion plans. The A320 is today’s standard in the Single-Aisle market and through our continuous innovations we are strengthening the aircraft’s leadership position for the future. The A320 is better by design and still keeps getting better,” said John Leahy. “With its choice, Yemenia will benefit from Airbus’ family concept which highlights eco-efficiency and streamlines maintenance and operations,” he added.

Yemenia’s fleet includes two A330-200s and three A310s. Sanaa and Aden based, Yemenia’s long haul fleet, operate to destinations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. During the 2007 Dubai airshow, Yemenia placed an order with Airbus for ten Airbus A350 XWB.