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development activities related to its SpaceJet, network that includes everything from short hops to flights of
regional jet. which was being pursued by five hours and beyond.
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation, a consol-
idated MHI Group company. Work on the Airbus now offers the A220, as the most modern airliner in its size
aircraft, originally known as the Mitsubishi category. Specifically designed for the 100 - 160 seat segment,
Regional Jet (MRJ), started in 2008 and devel- the A220 can fly up to 6,400 kilometres and offers the largest
opment costs by the end of the programme, cabin, seats and windows in its class, for superior passenger
totalled nearly US$8 billion. comfort.

Difficulties with the CSeries regional jets, Airbus offers the A220 in two versions, the -100 variant seating
whose development costs had ballooned between 100 - 130 passengers and the larger -300 variant, seat-
to nearly US$6 billion, forced Canada’s ing between 130 - 160 in typical layouts. The A220 is powered by
Bombardier to completely exit the commer- Pratt & Whitney’s PW1500G geared turbofan engines.
cial aviation sector. Airbus eventually paid
Bombardier US$591 million to acquire the Airbus is now actively marketing the A220 for the Southeast
CSeries programme. Asian market, conducting a regional tour with the aircraft, ear-
lier this year in May. The aircraft was displayed at the LIMA
Ranging from 100 to 150 seats, the CSeries International airshow in Malaysia, with Airbus citing the aircraft’s
was highly complementary to Airbus’ existing capabilities, stating that the aircraft would enable carrier’s to
single aisle aircraft portfolio, which focused offer direct non-stop services between any two points in Malaysia
on the higher end of the single-aisle jetliner and regional services to destinations afield such as Darwin and
market for aircraft with 150-240 seats. Airbus Perth in Australia, the Middle East, Tokyo and Seoul. The aircraft
renamed the CSeries as A220. on display at LIMA 2023 was leased by Airbus from airBaltic and
featured a 148 seat single-class layout. Following the stop in

Airbus A220 Langkawi, the aircraft continued on its tour to visit Kuala Lumpur,
Jakarta, Bangkok and Koh Samui.
While Bombardier struggled with growing the
orderbook for the CSeries, Airbus’ market- As of the end of June 2023, Airbus had approximately 30 custom-
ing muscle and global presence has ensured ers for the A220, who have ordered more than 800 aircraft. Airbus
that orders for the A220 have grown since has delivered more than 270 A220s (as of end June 2023) to 16
the European airframer took over the pro- airlines operating on four continents. Over 90 million passengers
gramme. Airbus has positioned the A220 as have flown on the A220 and the fleet is currently flying on over
the perfect platform for an airline’s domestic 1,100 routes and over 375 destinations worldwide.

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