New Airbus Aircraft Launching?

A new Airbus aircraft, part of the A220 series, could be closer to launching than some may think, thanks to new reporting.

Jon Ostrower of the reputable The Air Current sat down with the Airbus CEO, Guillaume Faury, to discuss a wide array of topics, which included the popular A220 program.

There has been much attention around the popular regional aircraft and its future course, which includes a prospective new variant and production ramp-ups as well.

Now, Faury says that achieving profitability will be of great importance if it wants to stand any chance at moving ahead with the launch of what would be the third member in the family, dubbed the A220-500.

Profitability across the A220 program has continued to be of sharp focus for the planemaker, and there feels internally the requirement to break even before committing to anything further, which is viewed as a sensible move by the planemaker.

Faury said to The Air Current that “we want to be close, if not, at a rate, when we launch, so we are comfortable with the view that the team can now focus on a new product.”

This approach, when moving ahead with new commercial aircraft or even simply introducing innovations from existing platforms, is not uncommon among planemakers who prefer to maintain a stable position before introducing anything new.

While there was much talk about Boeing’s NMA throughout the 2010s, the plethora of incidents towards the end of the decade, followed by a pandemic and more, meant that innovation was put on the back burner and would not have made sense.

As for why the A220 profitability rate has not been achieved, it stems from a multitude of reasons that are being addressed, with what is broadly considered the long game with the jet, as production increases are expected to be crucial to offsetting the ongoing cash burn for the program.

Airbus would need to jump production up to 14 units per month and make other fundamental trade agreements with suppliers in a bid to achieve this all-important break-even point, and then, only then, can the new variant launch.

Exploring The New Airbus A220

This new A220, dubbed the A220-500 as suggested by the latter part of the numerical value, is intended to be a high-capacity model for the A220 program.

The larger variant would look to carry more passengers, and for airlines looking to evolve their single-aisle flying, but not wish to bring on something like the A320neo or 737 MAX, opt for this instead.

Thus far, interest in the A220-500 has been strong. Breeze Airways, a budget carrier in the United States, has repeatedly discussed what a larger A220 would positively do for its business.

It exists as a perfect example for why the A220-500 would be ideal; they already fly the A220 and believe the A320neo family would not be a good fit for their business when seeking to increase capacity.

Adding the A320neo family would put further complexity to its operation with a totally new aircraft type, whereas a higher-capacity A220 model would be viewed as perfect.

AirBaltic is another company that has expressed a strong interest in the A220-500 for its prospective fleet. Having already a firm reliance on the single-aisle jet, the -500, they feel would be perfect.

For some time, it has felt like a matter of when rather than if the launch of this new Airbus aircraft will take place, but much still must be done for the broader program, according to its CEO, Fuary, before the launch can take place.