Wizz Air orders an additional 50 Airbus A320 aircraft

Wizz Air, the Central and Eastern Europe based low cost airline, has signed a firm contract with Airbus for an additional 50 A320s, taking the total orders of the airline up to 82 A320 aircraft.

The contract represents the largest ever order in the region for a single Airbus type, and will enable Wizz Air to become one of the biggest airlines in Central and Eastern Europe within the next decade. Wizz Air have already ordered 32 new A320s from Airbus, and operate several additional A320s on lease.

The aircraft will be configured with 180 seats in a single class layout. The new aircraft will allow Wizz Air to increase frequencies on existing services, as well as to introducing new routes for the region.

"Wizz Air has demonstrated its ability for sustainable growth, where cost efficiency is the key to generate market and win competition. Our choice of aircraft plays a big part in this cost efficiency. The A320 continues to deliver low operating costs, high operational reliability and customer satisfaction whilst enabling us to remain environmentally conscious. The new aircraft order will make Wizz Air the largest fleet operator in the region" said József Varadi, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air.

"We are very proud to take part in the tremendous growth of Wizz Air in the Central and Eastern Europe region" said Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers, John Leahy. "The new order strongly underpins Wizz Air's aspirations to expand. The A320 Family is clearly the leading aircraft in its category, and this milestone order really endorses the superiority of our product" he added.

With advanced fuel-saving aerodynamic design, including wingtip fences and an all-new lighter cabin helping reduce fuel burn even further, the A320 Family is the most environmentally friendly aircraft type in operation. Centralised maintenance with extended servicing intervals and proven reliability in day-to-day service help to give it the lowest operative costs. In addition, the all new cabin design saves on weight and offers the passenger a quieter and roomier experience as well as significantly larger overhead stowage compartments. The A320 Family, which also includes the A318, A319 and A321, is recognised as the benchmark in the single-aisle aircraft market.

With over 5,400 Airbus single-aisle aircraft ordered and more than 3,200 delivered to date, the A320 Family is without doubt the most successful airliner programme. The A320 Family has more than 200 customers and operators to its credit.

Dell Launches Global Initiative To Simplify IT Debuts first of new services to accelerate IT Simplification. On-Demand Desktop Streaming Can Reduce IT Labor Costs by Up to 56 Percent.

On-Demand Desktop StreamingTM , a solution that provides tighter security, easier manageability and better reliability in desktop environments, was announced here today at the Gartner IT Expo.

Targeted at medium and large commercial and institutional customers, the offering can lower information-technology labor costs by up to 56 percent1 while greatly simplifying data and image management.

On-Demand Desktop Streaming is available today in the United States at an average cost of $1,100 per user. It is a tested and validated solution where operating systems, applications and data are streamed to 100 diskless desktops from a shared, standards-based server. Designed for desk-based workers, such as those in education computer labs and call centers, On-Demand Desktops Streaming eliminates almost all desk-side administration visits because software and data reside in the data center.

In other news, the company is championing IT simplification with a new global business strategy. "IT complexity has become a barrier to efficiency and growth," said Mark Jarvis, Dell's chief marketing officer. "Today we're putting a stake in the ground and forging a new path to IT simplification for all customers that will reduce the cost and complexity of enterprise technology."

Automated Deployment, Easy Administration, Maximum Flexibility

On-Demand Desktop Streaming differs from similar offerings by providing centralized IT control and data security without compromising end-user productivity. It also incorporates the company's breakthrough EasyConnect™ technology, making client deployment easier by removing manual licensing and enabling an instant boot to the server.

"Dell's On-Demand Desktop Streaming solution can eliminate many of the security risks associated with viruses, spyware and hacking attempts," said Lee Steinsdoerfer, technology director, Zion-Benton Township High School, Zion, Ill. "We have fewer security concerns and can focus our resources on other pressing needs."

Dell's On-Demand Desktop Streaming solution is comprised of diskless OptiPlexTM 745 and OptiPlex 755 desktops (available in November), a PowerEdgeTM 2950 server, a PowerConnectTM Gigabit switch, Citrix® Provisioning Server for Desktops Software, and a PowerEdge 2900 storage server. Dell is the single source for all components of the solution and offers a complete set of professional services, including pre-sales sizing, assessment, deployment and ongoing support.

Additional features of Dell's On-Demand Desktop Streaming include:

• Virus resistance, making malware less of a concern because each re-boot restores the original image.
• Image roll-back, which allows IT administrators to roll out a new OS or application and restore the previous production image if there is a problem.
• Support for up to 100 end users with one server, versus a blade PC for every user, making manageability and maintenance easier.
• Standard Image Mode, which can deliver one standard image across all systems for quick and easy changes while minimizing impact on network resources.
• Flexibility to easily expand, change or move users or redeploy data center infrastructure for other uses.

"Our flexible computing approach is markedly different from other architectures which lock customers into inflexible and proprietary solutions that can hamper end-user productivity," said Jeff Clarke, senior vice president, Dell Product Group. "Having deployed On-Demand Desktop Streaming in several customer environments, we know that the solution works and have integrated efficiencies that we've found every step of the way."

Source: Dell