Airbus A220


The Airbus A220 is a family of five-abreast narrow-body airliners by Airbus Canada Limited Partnership. It was originally developed by Bombardier Aviation and had two years in service as the Bombardier CSeries.
The program was launched on 13 July 2008. The smaller A220-100 first flew on 16 September 2013, received an initial type certificate from Transport Canada on 18 December 2015, and entered service on 15 July 2016 with launch operator Swiss Global Air Lines. The longer A220-300 first flew on 27 February 2015, received an initial type certificate on 11 July 2016, and entered service with airBaltic on 14 December 2016. Both launch operators recorded better-than-expected fuel burn and dispatch reliability, as well as positive feedback from passengers and crew.
In July 2018, the aircraft was rebranded as the A220 after Airbus acquired a majority stake in the programme through a joint venture that became ACLP in June 2019. The A220 thus became the only Airbus commercial aircraft programme managed outside of Europe. In August, a second A220 final assembly line opened at the Airbus Mobile facility in Alabama, supplementing the main facility in Mirabel, Quebec. In February 2020, Airbus increased its stake in ACLP to 75% through Bombardier's exit, while Investissement Québec held the remaining stake.
Powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1500G geared turbofan engines under its wings, the twinjet features fly-by-wire flight controls, a carbon composite wing, an aluminium-lithium fuselage, and optimised aerodynamics for better fuel efficiency. The aircraft family offers maximum take-off weights from, and cover a range. The 35 m long A220-100 seats 108 to 133, while the 38.7 m long A220-300 seats 130 to 160.
The ACJ TwoTwenty is the business jet version of the A220-100, launched in late 2020.
Delta Air Lines is the largest A220 customer and operator with 82 aircraft in its fleet as of 2025. A total of 949 A220s have been ordered of which 482 units have been delivered and 478 are in commercial service with 25 operators. The global A220 fleet has completed more than 1.81 million flights over 3.17 million block hours, transporting more than 100 million passengers, with one smoke-related accident. The A220 family complements the A319neo in the Airbus range and competes with Boeing 737 MAX 7, as well as the smaller four-abreast Embraer E195-E2 and E190-E2, with the A220 holding over 55% market share in this small airliner category.

Development

BRJ-X forerunner concept

Bombardier began discussions with Fokker on 5 February 1996 about acquiring that company's assets, including the 100-seat Fokker 100 short-haul aircraft. However, after evaluating the potential purchase, Bombardier announced an end to the talks on 27 February, and two weeks later, on 15 March, Fokker was declared bankrupt. Bombardier then launched the BRJ-X, or "Bombardier Regional Jet eXpansion" on 8 September, a larger regional jet than the CRJ Series or "Canadair Regional Jet" due to enter service in 2003. Instead of 2–2 seating, the BRJ-X was to have a wider fuselage with 2–3 seating for 85 to 110 passengers, and underwing engine pods. It was comparable to the smallest narrow-body jetliners, like the 2–3 DC-9/MD-80/Boeing 717 or the 3–3 Airbus A318 and Boeing 737-500/737-600. At the end of 2000, the project was shelved by Bombardier in favour of stretching the CRJ700 into the CRJ900.
Meanwhile, Embraer launched its four-abreast E-Jet family for 70 to 122 passengers in June 1999, which entered service in 2004. Airbus launched its 107–117 passengers A318 on 21 April 1999, which entered service in July 2003, as Boeing had the 737-600 first delivered in September 1998.

CSeries feasibility study

Bombardier appointed Gary Scott on 8 March 2004 to evaluate the creation of a New Commercial Aircraft Program. A feasibility study for a five-seat abreast CSeries was then launched at the biennial Farnborough Airshow in July to investigate development of an aircraft to replace rival manufacturers' aging models: DC-9/MD-80, Fokker 100, Boeing 737 Classic and BAe-146 with 20% lower operating costs, and 15% lower operating costs than then-in-production models: Embraer E-Jet, Boeing 717, etc. The smaller variant should carry 110 to 115 passengers and the larger between 130 and 135 passengers over 3,200 nautical miles. The C110 was planned to weigh at MTOW and have a length of, while the C130 should be long and have a MTOW. The aircraft would have 3-by-2 standard seating and 4-abreast business class, stand-up headroom, fly-by-wire and side stick controls. 20 percent of the airframe weight would be in composite materials for the centre and rear fuselages, tail cone, empennage and wings. The first flight was planned for 2008 and entry into service for 2010.
Bombardier's Board of Directors authorized marketing the CSeries on 15 March 2005, seeking firm commitments prior to program launch.
In May, the CSeries development was evaluated at US$2.1 billion, shared with suppliers and partner governments for one-third each. The Government of Canada would invest US$262.5 million, the Government of Quebec US$87.5 million and the Government of the United Kingdom US$340 million, repayable on a royalty basis per aircraft. The UK contribution is part of an investment partnership for the location of the development of the composite wings and other parts at the Belfast plant, where Bombardier bought Short Brothers in 1989.

Search for engines and one-year development break

Despite government support, Bombardier had difficulty finding the right powerplant for the CSeries in June 2005 after failing to get the two engine consortia International Aero Engines and CFM International to compete for the CSeries contract. The former engine manufacturer had offered a new centreline engine in the thrust class, while the latter was not yet ready to offer its next-generation CFM56 engine, as Bombardier required a significant upgrade in the event of an engine derivative for the CSeries program. Both prospective engine suppliers for the CSeries program were uncertain about the aircraft market projections after Bombardier failed to address these concerns, but they left the door open to future discussions of a potential program. Bombardier then returned to Pratt & Whitney in search of the right engine for the CSeries, although the company had already rejected a PW6000 derivative offered by P&W a year earlier, maintaining its original plan to launch the all-new aircraft program only with a new centreline engine as well.
Bombardier announced on 31 January 2006 that market conditions could not justify the launch of the program, and that the company would reorient CSeries project efforts, team and resources to regional jet and turboprop aircraft. A small team of employees were kept to develop the CSeries business plan and were further tasked to include other risk-sharing partners in the program.
Bombardier announced on 31 January 2007 that work on the aircraft would continue, with entry into service planned for 2013. In November 2007, Bombardier finally selected the P&W Geared Turbofan, now the PW1500G, already selected to power the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, to be the exclusive powerplant for the CSeries, rated at.

Program launch and type redesignation

Bombardier's Board of Directors authorized offering formal sales proposals of the CSeries to airline customers on 22 February 2008, due to its 20% lower fuel burn and up to 15% better operating costs compared to similarly sized aircraft produced at the time. This interested Lufthansa, Qatar Airways and ILFC. In a press conference on the eve of the opening of the Farnborough Airshow on 13 July, Bombardier Aerospace formally launched the CSeries, with a letter of interest from Lufthansa for 60 aircraft, including 30 options, at a US$46.7 million list price. The aircraft fuel efficiency would be per passenger in a dense seating. Bombardier estimated the market for the 100- to 150-seat segment at 6,300 aircraft over twenty years, representing more than $250 billion in revenue, with the company expected to generate up to half of that.
Bombardier redesignated the C110 and C130 as CS100 and CS300, respectively in March 2009. The models were offered in standard- and extended-range variants; and additionally, an extra thrust variant of the CS300 was also offered. Bombardier subsequently settled on a single variant, with the ER becoming the new standard.

Prototype manufacturing

At the program launch in July 2008, Bombardier announced that final assembly of the CSeries would be done in Mirabel, wings would be developed and manufactured in Belfast and the aft fuselage and cockpit would be manufactured in Saint-Laurent, Quebec. The centre fuselage was to be built by China Aviation Industry Corporation 's affiliate Shenyang Aircraft Corporation. In March 2009, Bombardier confirmed major suppliers: Alenia Aeronautica for the composite horizontal and vertical stabilisers, Fokker Elmo for the wiring and interconnection systems and Goodrich Corporation Actuation Systems: design and production of the flap and slat actuation systems.
By June 2009, 96% of billable materials had been allocated, with the company settling on various companies for remaining components and systems: Rockwell Collins for the avionics, Zodiac Aerospace for the interiors, Parker Hannifin for the fully integrated fuel and hydraulics systems, Liebherr-Aerospace for the air management system, and it was also anticipated that wireless In-Flight Entertainment might be feasible when the CSeries entered service. By November, the first wing had been assembled at the Bombardier Aerostructures and Engineering Services site in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In the same month, construction of a composite wing manufacturing facility at the Belfast site started and the first flight of the CSeries was expected by 2012. In 2010, Ghafari Associates was retained to develop the Montreal manufacturing site to accommodate the aircraft production.