NBA to lease A321neos
According to Corporate Jet Investor, the US National Basketball Association is planning to lease its own fleet of Airbus A321neos that it will use to facilitate the transportation of NBA-teams.
The article posted by CJI states that the NBA is in talks with lessor SMBC for the lease of thirteen A321neos and that they will be reconfigured into a VIP lay-out by Comlux in Indianapolis (IN). It also states that the aircraft are, most likely, to be operated by Delta Air Lines.
Delta is already covering the majority of current NBA-flights and has a fleet of eleven Boeing B757-200s that are configured in a VIP-configuration seating up to 72 passengers. As the average age of these eleven Boeings is more than 34 years, replacement by newer generation aircraft makes sense.
Illustration by SMBC.