Today, aircraft lessor Aviation Capital Group confirmed that it has firmed up an order for 20 Airbus A220 aircraft. The order was announced in Singapore ahead of tomorrow's opening of the airshow. It wasn't immediately clear whether the order was for the smaller -100, the larger -300, or a mix of the two.
The Airbus A220 is rapidly growing in popularity. As of the end of January, 690 had been ordered, while 195 of these orders had been delivered. Orders for the aircraft (first marketed as the Bombardier C-Series) began in 2009. For comparison, in around 18 years of sales, the Airbus A380 only managed 251 firm orders that were delivered (321 orders were outstanding in 2018).
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Confirming another order
Today, Airbus took the opportunity to confirm another order for its popular A220 narrowbody. The aircraft saw 20 firmed orders from the Aviation Capital Group. These were included as a memorandum of understanding alongside an order for 40 A320neo family aircraft, including five A321s, in December 2021.
Commenting on the new order, Airbus' Chief Commercial Officer, Christian Scherer, remarked,
"This order for 20 A220s from Tokyo Century's Aviation Capital Group reflects the potential of the aircraft as a sound investment, including for investors based in the Asia Pacific region... With fuel and emissions efficiency ever more a discriminating investment choice, the A220 really stands out. Equally gratifying is the market feedback that the A220's cabin is becoming the passengers' darling in the regional and small single-aisle segments."
Over 700 Airbus A220 orders
The latest order brings the A220 order book to over 700 aircraft. Airbus revealed that it had purchased 50.01% of the A220 program in October 2017. Since the plane was rebranded as the product of one of the two largest OEMs, its popularity has soared to new heights.
The Airbus A220 ended 2017 with 372 orders. This grew by almost 50% to 537 aircraft the following year. Given its high fuel efficiency twinned with a lower number of seats, the Airbus A220 was one aircraft that suffered the least from the COVID-19 pandemic. Continuing deliveries meant that by July 2021, the aircraft type was already exceeding its pre-pandemic operations.
The Airbus A220 is likely to get even more popular in the coming years. Firstly, its operations will continue to grow as it enters service with even more airlines. JetBlue alone placed an order for 60 of the jet. The manufacturer is also widely expected to be pursuing a stretched -500 model of the A220. Commenting on this last summer, Scherer remarked,
"Before [the A220] is stretched, it will reach its cruising altitude."
What are your thoughts on this latest Airbus A220 order? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!