AIRPORT TRANSFER OPERATOR SkyBus has ordered 15 new MAN-chassis, low-floor Optimus buses from Volgren in response to increased growth, the company reports recently.
The 12.5-metre buses will be built on a MAN RC2 chassis and will go into build during October, 2018, with the first buses expected to be delivered by February next year.
The order from SkyBus is in response to “increased growth” and a “commitment to ensure more Victorians have options for getting to and from Melbourne’s airports affordably,” according to SkyBus.
SkyBus CEO Adam Begg said: “SkyBus is responding to increased growth and demand by maintaining a modern fleet of buses and adding more routes to suburbs and key regional hubs across Victoria.”
“These 15 new Volgren buses will make a significant contribution to our fleet and an even more important contribution to creating jobs and opportunities in Melbourne’s industrial heartland in the south east,” Begg added.
Volgren CEO, Peter Dale said all 15 buses would be built in Dandenong, Victoria, and locally engineered, thus securing jobs and supporting the growing supply chain of local businesses.”
“Volgren is now responsible for close to two in every three route buses sold in Australia and this latest order from SkyBus is another great endorsement of the high-quality buses we’ve been designing and manufacturing for more than three decades,” said Dale.
“Our first delivery to SkyBus was in 2002 and we’re delighted to be given the opportunity to build on that partnership by delivering another 15 buses,” he said.
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WHISPER QUIET
Clint Stoermer, national sales and service manager – bus, Penske Commercial Vehicles, said: “MAN and Penske Commercial Vehicles have built a long-standing relationship with SkyBus, which began with the acquisition of the articulated Super Shuttle buses back in 2010.”
“This relationship has been further strengthened by Skybus’s most recent order for 15 route buses built on MAN’s LE19.320 RC2 city bus chassis, which boasts the proven reliability of the predecessor bus chassis models that have already accumulated nearly one million kilometres.
“The MAN LE19.320 RC2 city bus chassis features the unequalled performance and reliability of MAN’s whisper-quiet, powerful and fuel-efficient 10.5-litre Euro 5 city bus engine.
“This outstanding driveline, combined with MAN’s city bus chassis, makes for a pleasant, safe and reliable shuttle service that SkyBus is renowned for providing.”
ABOUT SKYBUS
SkyBus – the Australian-owned business with 40 years’ history in airport passenger transport – received its third consecutive Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence in 2018. SkyBus also won the Gold prize at the RACV Victorian Tourism Awards in both 2017 and 2016.
SkyBus operates services in Australia to Melbourne City, Southbank, St Kilda, Geelong, Werribee, Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula, the Gold Coast in Queensland, most recently in Hobart, Tasmania, and also Auckland in New Zealand.