Acropolis Aviation, based at Farnborough airport in the UK, has awarded the completion contract for its Airbus ACJ320neo to AMAC Aerospace in Basel, Switzerland. Building on the success of its existing Airbus ACJ319, the ACJ320neo will provide additional range via new high efficiency engines and drag-reducing sharklets.

The operator placed its order for the ACJ320neo in May 2015 and selected the Alberto Pinto design studio for its bespoke interior the following year. The green delivered aircraft will enter AMAC's hangar doors in the fourth quarter of 2018 and will be returned to Acropolis in late 2019.

“The quality offered by AMAC is second-to-none,” says CEO Jonathan Bousfield. “We needed to select the right outfitter to bring Alberto Pinto's amazing vision to life, and from our point of view AMAC demonstrated to us it had the skill and creativity to do this better than anyone else.

“We were extremely pleased to return to EBACE to announce this decision jointly with AMAC Aerospace and congratulate the team there on a decade of successfully outfitting the finest VIP business jets.”

Acropolis has selected CFM International's LEAP-1A engines to power its ACJ320neo. Bousfield adds: “We've experienced many years of 'happy motoring' with the CFM powerplant on board our ACJ319, which we introduced to service in 2010. Worldwide support has been very important for our long and fruitful relationship with CFM International and in our mind this is the superior engine for our next Airbus. We look forward to benefitting from the increased efficiency the LEAP-1A engine can offer.”

Jointly certified by EASA and the US FAA, CFM International's LEAP engines are in service with 12 operators around the globe. Together with Airbus' sharklets, the engines are said to deliver a 15 per cent improvement in fuel consumption on the A320neo airliner family, compared with aircraft powered by today's CFM56 engines.

Acropolis' new Airbus ACJ320neo will have a range of 6,000 nm, meaning clients can fly from London to Los Angeles or Tokyo direct and London to Sydney with one refuelling stop. With cabin space of 1,033 sq ft, some 150 sq ft more than in the ACJ319, the ACJ320neo will have capacity for 140 bags.