Jeddah-based National Air Service (NAS) has made a firm commitment to purchase five A318 Elites and has taken an option for five additional aircraft, becoming the launch customer in the Middle East for this new member of the Airbus Corporate Jet family.

NAS plans to use the aircraft to support vip customers throughout the Middle East, including routes from Saudi Arabia to Europe. Deliveries of the aircraft will commence in the fourth quarter of this year.

The Elite is derived from the Airbus A318 airliner and has seating for 14 to 18 passengers. The cabin features settees as well as seats clustered around tables, both of which can be converted into full-length beds.

"When you are in the market for private jet transport of around 15 passengers, you cannot beat the space, comfort and economics of the Airbus 318 Elite," said NAS president and ceo Mohammed Al Zeer.

"In this market, it is the quality of service and comfort that count, and the A318 Elite will help us to deliver those with both elegance and style."

With a fleet of 28 aircraft, NAS is the largest private operator of business jets in the Middle East. The addition of the Elite aircraft will reinforce the company's position as the operator of the largest fleet of Airbus vip aircraft in the world. The company already operates two A319 Executives, one ACJ, two vip A320s and has been chosen to operate a vip A340-600.

"In making wide-cabin comfort more accessible to executive and private users, we gain entry into a larger market that builds on the success of the Airbus ACJ family, which has already reached the milestone of more than 50 sales," said Airbus president and ceo Gustav Humbert.

The Airbus A318 Elite has a range of up to 4,000 nm and will be delivered as an outfitted aircraft under a partnership between Airbus and Lufthansa Technik.

The purchase of the aircraft will be financed by CALYON - the Credit Agricole Banking Group. "This transaction represents the first financing undertaken by the bank for a private aviation company in Saudi Arabia, and we are very happy to work with an innovative organisation like NAS," said Anne-Marie Siffroy-Pytlak, senior vp in the corporate and investment bank at CALYON.

Since announcing the launch of the aircraft at NBAA last year, Airbus has seen interest from a range of operators, including Zurich-based Comlux Aviation, which ordered three A318 Elites in November.