Tunisair is an airline that moves! This Friday, November 28th, it received a new Airbus A320 aircraft during an official ceremony at the Airbus factory in Toulouse and we were there! Among the guests present at this exceptional event: Chiheb Ben Ahmed, Tunisian Minister of Transport; Mrs Saloua Essghaier, President and CEO of Tunisair; Mohamed Ali Chihi, Tunisian Ambassador to France; Slaheddine Blidi, CEO France of Tunisair. This is the sixth aircraft acquired by the airline as part of its fleet renewal plan for the period 2010-2017," said Saloua Essghaier, CEO of Tunisair, "The delivery of this new aircraft is a mark of consecration for the airline, which has respected its fleet plan, confirming the implementation of its restructuring plan. Named Farhat Hached, after a famous Tunisian trade unionist-martyr, this new plane has the particularity of being equipped with Sharklets fixed at the end of the wings; sorts of ailerons which reduce fuel consumption by up to 4%. It should be noted that 2015 will be marked by the acceptance of another model: the Airbus A330 wide-body jet. It will allow Tunisair to operate long-haul destinations; next November, the company should open a brand new Tunis-Montreal route.
Following the inauguration ceremony of the A320 aircraft in Toulouse on the morning of Friday 28th November, the Tunisair team, the Minister of Transport, the Tunisian Ambassador to France, two Airbus executives-François Cognard and Guillaume Mille-and ourselves, we took off in this brand new aircraft towards Tozeur in the early afternoon. "If the company chose this destination in the Tunisian desert for the first flight of this plane, it is to highlight this beautiful region of Tunisia now unfortunately neglected by tourists following the Revolution and the recent events that shook the Arab world. "explains Slaheddine Blidi, Tunisair's Managing Director for France. The same evening, we celebrated this first flight around a festive dinner in Tozeur where all the crew was also invited, including the Captain and the co-pilot. The next day, we were able to go on an excursion in the desert and in particular to discover the sublime oasis of Chebika. On Sunday, everyone returned to Tunis in the same aircraft, which is now designed to make regular rotations mainly from Tunis
This trip with Tunisair will remain in the annals of the history of this airline, which with its 66 years of existence is surely promised a bright future. It will also remain for us an unforgettable memory where the Petit Futé was invited exclusively
You will find here some pictures that will give you an idea of this inauguration..
A big thank you to all the Tunisair team and more particularly to Tunisair's CEO, Saloua Essghaier, to Slaheddine Blidi, Tunisair's General Manager for France, to Rim Msellati-Baccouche, Regional Director Toulouse-Bordeaux of Tunisair, as well as to Imen Amara, Ghassen Ouiji, Walid Tagorti and Aicha Beltaief, the heads of Tunisair's communication unit, without forgetting Amirouche Laidi and Jennifer Bulcke of the Origine Communication agency who assisted them from France.
Many thanks also to the Airbus managers for all their explanations about the aircraft and for their kindness, namely Jacques Rocca, Director of Communications at Airbus, François Cognard, Vice President of Sales for the Maghreb and the Middle East at Airbus, and Guillaume Mille, Head of Contracts for the Maghreb and the Middle East at Airbus
