SWISS’ aircraft fleet is now fully restored with the return of an Airbus A320, registration HB-IJO, returned from long-term storage in Amman, Jordan due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday (December 19, 2023), Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) announced the return of their last aircraft which was stored in Amman, Jordan during the pandemic-related industry downturn. The aircraft, an Airbus A320, registration HB-IJO, returned to Zurich on Sunday (December 17th) after being stored in the desert for three years. In total, SWISS stored 25 aircraft in Amman during the global COVID-19 pandemic. After a thorough inspection by a specially trained SWISS crew, the aircraft returned to passenger revenue service on Tuesday morning (December 19th) with flight LX974 from Zurich to Berlin.
In Tuesday’s announcement, SWISS’ Head of Technical Fleet Management, Claus Bauer, said,
“We are delighted to welcome the last of our Jordan-stored aircraft back to our flight operations and return our working fleet to full size. Our specialists have made huge efforts over the last few months to ensure that every one of our stored aircraft was brought back to Zurich in faultless technical condition. It’s been a massive undertaking for everybody involved in which every detail counts.”
While in storage, under the leadership of SWISS' own technical specialists and in collaboration with a local MRO provider, all stored aircraft and their installed equipment were regularly inspected. Other ongoing maintenance processes included regular flushing of the hydraulic systems and engine function checks. The final returned aircraft is an Airbus A320-200 (HB-IJO) built in 1997. The aircraft seats 180 passengers and has clocked 63,596 flight hours and 45,042 takeoff and landing cycles.
Source: Swiss International Air Lines