The Airbus A319neo is by far the least successful A320neo variant out there. Overshadowed heavily by the A320neo and A321neo, Airbus has persisted with the aircraft. Airbus continues to describe the aircraft as "game-changing," but there might be another aircraft out there stealing the A319neo's thunder.

What is the Airbus A319neo?

The Airbus A319neo is the successor to the A319ceo. Airbus states that the aircraft traditionally seats about 120 to 150 passengers, with a maximum of 160 passengers in a high-density layout. The range of the aircraft is 3,700 nautical miles or 6,850 kilometers.

The A319neo has a 95% commonality with the A320 family. It complements the A320neo and A321neo, offering customers who want to keep only one aircraft family in its fleet added efficiencies by taking on the A319neo. The commonality with other variants of the Airbus A320 family also means existing A320 family pilots do not need to undergo a lot of expensive further training to fly the A319neo.

Airbus A319neo
The Airbus A319neo is a successor to the A319ceo. Photo: Airbus

The sales of the A319neo

Airbus' October orders update showed 84 firm orders for the Airbus A319neo. This includes 30 to undisclosed customers, five to governments and private jet fleets, and two to Air Cote D'Ivoire. The largest A319neo customer, however, is Spirit Airlines, which has an order for 47 Airbus A319neo aircraft– although that order is not all that it seems.

Spirit A320neo
Spirit is the largest customer for the Airbus A319neo. Photo: Airbus

Compare this to the 1,486 orders for the A319ceo and the 3,919 firm orders for the A320neo, and it is clear that the A319neo has vastly underperformed other aircraft in its family when it comes to sales.

Another game-changing aircraft might be to blame

The Airbus A220 is the little plane that could. Unfortunately, the larger A220-300 has a little too many similarities with the Airbus A319neo. For example, this aircraft has a range of up to 3,400 nautical miles or 6,297 kilometers. Also, the plane seats between 120 and 150 passengers.

In terms of sales, The A220-300 has sold 542 models. This is over six times what the A319neo has sold. Thus, it is clear that the Airbus A220-300 has more support from customers than the A319neo.

Airbus A220
The A220-300 will reduce emissions and operating costs. Photo: Airbus

The A220-300 made its maiden flight in 2015 and entered service at the end of 2016. Meanwhile, the Airbus A319neo made its first flight in early 2019, and while it has been delivered to VIP customers, it has not yet entered commercial service with a major airline. That is not the same story for the A220-300.

Will Airbus A319neo sales pick up?

One issue with the A319neo is that it is relatively new. The first A319 delivery was in 1996. This makes the oldest aircraft about 24 years old. However, most A319s flying today are in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 years old, so they are not that old.

Take the world's largest operator of the Airbus A319: American Airlines. Data from Planespotters.net shows that those A319s are an average of only 16.6 years old. United's A319s, according to Planespotters.net, are under 19 years old. The easyJet group, which has 106 A319s across its fleet, according to Planespotters.net, has an average A319 fleet age of 12.7 years.

Airbus A319neo
There is still hope for the A319neo. It just depends on how airlines want to replace their A319ceos. Photo: Airbus

All of this is to say that some of these airlines still have a bit of room to go before the A319s need to be replaced. Thus, it is not surprising that carriers have not picked up orders for the A319neo. In the next few years, some airlines will likely turn to the A319neo– especially those that have the A320neo or A321neo on order. For now, however, the A319neo holds a place in Airbus' lineup as a low-seller.

Do you think sales for the A319neo will pick up? Let us know in the comments!