Tunis — The third Airbus A320 airliner purchased by national carrier Tunisair is expected to land on Monday afternoon at Tunis-Carthage airport. Named Aziza Othmana, the aircraft has a 162-seat capacity, including 32 in business class and 114 in economy class, and an economical cruising speed.

According to Mr. Faouzi Moualhi, Director at Tunisair, the airliner cost 60 million dinars and provides more security and comfort for passengers with some components manufactured in Tunisia by French company Aerolia .

In a statement to Tap news agency, Mr. Moualhi announced that the company will take delivery by the end of 2017 of all the aircrafts acquired as part of the purchase contract concluded with French Airbus Group worth 1 billion euros (about 2 billion dinars) and providing for the purchase of 16 aircrafts, including 10 Airbus A320, 3 Airbus A330 and 3 Airbus A350.

He went on saying that the company is to receive in 2014 two Airbus A 330 airliners and a third one in 2015. The new aircrafts, Mr. Moualhi said, will be used for long-distance flights such as Tunisia/New York, Tunisia/Montréal and Tunisia/China, adding that the old A300 aircrafts will be sold as part of an international invitation to tender.