Airbus Increases Range of A220-100 and A220-300 Aircraft

Airbus has confirmed that from H2 2020, its popular A220 Family aircraft - formerly the Bombardier C Series, will be able to fly further than ever before.

The maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of the A220 aircraft will increase by 2,268 kg (2.3 metric tonnes), increasing the respective maximum range capabilities to 3,350 nm for the A220-300 and 3,400 nm for the A220-100, some 450 nm more than currently advertised.

The current basic MTOW is 60.8 t for the A220-100 and 67.6 t for the A220-300. With the new MTOW increase of 2.3 t, the respective aircraft’s MTOW will be brought up at 63.1 t for the A220-100 and 69.9 for the A220-300.

“In true Airbus tradition we improve our products constantly,” said Christian Scherer, Chief Commercial Officer, Airbus. “This new MTOW will allow operators to reach markets which today cannot be served by other small single-aisle aircraft types.”

The performance increase will allow airlines to tap into new routes that were not possible before, connecting key cities in Western Europe with the Middle East or from Southeast Asia to Australia.

The A220 is powered by Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines.

“Since its entry-into-service close to three years ago, the A220 aircraft has already proven that it is meeting or beating its initial performance targets, bringing more flexibility and revenue potential to customers,” said Rob Dewar, Head of Engineering & Customer Support for the A220. “Today, Airbus is reinforcing its confidence in the A220 platform and further enhancing its capabilities to meet upcoming market requirements.”

With an order book of over 530 aircraft to date, the A220 has all the credentials to win the lion’s share of the 100- to 150-seat aircraft market, estimated to represent 7,000 aircraft over the next 20 years.

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