airberlin to lease three new A330 aircraft

airberlin is to add three wide-body Airbus 330-200 aircraft to its fleet as it builds towards its biggest long-haul summer flight schedule to the US. The new aircraft will join airberlin’s existing Airbus 330 fleet of 14 and boost capacity by nearly 1,000 passenger seats. The first of the 290-seater aircraft will come into operation in February with the next two planes flying in airberlin’s colours before the end of April. The leased aircraft will be configured with 19 fully-flat seats in business class and 271 seats in the economy section. Each aircraft will be fitted with 46 XL seats which give an extra 20% seat pitch to provide more legroom and extra comfort. More than 70 airberlin pilots and 260 flight attendants have undergone extensive training in the last months to operate the three new jets.