What are the key differences between the Airbus A320neo and its smaller version, the A319neo? Let's explore.

Why are there two aircraft?

The A320neo and A319neo are the 'next' generation of the A320 family aircraft of similar names. Technically the original A319 is also a shrink of the initial A320, making the A319neo the third revision of the design (but for clarity, we will speak as if its the second iteration).

Airbus shrunk the original A319 from the A320 by seven frames, for several reasons:

• A giant aircraft leasing firm requested the design.
• Airbus needed an aircraft to compete with the 737-700 and cater to the lower demand segment.

When it came to the neo series with new engines, Airbus decided to upgrade to the A319, A320, and A321. With the same engines as the A320neo, how different is the A319neo? And is one more popular than the other? Let's compare.

Passengers

The A319neo has less passenger capacity company to the A320neo - this is by design and because the plane is physically shorter (in fact, the wingspan of the A319neo is wider than the plane is long).

The A319neo can carry 120 passengers in a two-class configuration, or 150 in an all-economy configuration.

The A320neo can carry 150 passengers in a two-class configuration, or 180 passengers in an all-economy configuration.

From the numbers, we can see that the A320neo not only carries more but that its two-class capacity is as large as the all-economy capacity of the A319neo.

Range

When it comes to range, the shorter and lighter A319neo can deploy its power more effectively than the A320neo. But by how much?

• The A319neo has a range of 6,850 km / 3,700 nautical miles.
• The A320neo has a range of 6,300 km / 3,400 nautical miles.

The A319neo only has a range of 300 nautical miles more than the larger A320neo. This is not very useful and doesn't make as much difference financially as the extra 35 fare-paying passengers.

If you include the A321neo, which has a range of 7,400 km / 4,000 nautical miles and carries more passengers than the A320neo (220 passengers in all-economy), then the A319neo is not a particularly appealing prospect.

There is a possibility of a long-range version of the A319neo, which would be called the A319LR and would fly up to 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km). However, Airbus has yet to bring that improvement over to the A319neo - focusing on the range improvements of the A321XLR instead.

What about sales?

The A319neo is the least popular of the A320neo family. According to sales figures, the A319neo only has orders for 55 aircraft as of 31 January 2019, compared with 4,179 for the A320neo and 2,292 for the A321neo.

As for the A318 Baby Bus, which is even smaller than the A319, it is doubtful that Airbus will ever upgrade it to a neo version and will push customers towards the A220 instead.

What do you think? Which do you prefer? Let us know in the comments!