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Airbus has worked to increase the
aircraft’s maximum zero fuel weight
(MZFW) and maximum landing
weight (MLW) by 1.8 tonne. The
new increased MZFW/MLW was to
be available as of mid-2022 for the
A220-100 and Q4 2023 for the A220-
300 (subject to approval by aviation
regulators). The A220-300’s maxi-
mum take-off weight (MTOW) has
already been increased to up to
GAINING TRACTION 70.9 tonne for the A220-300. The
new MTOW increases the maximum
range capabilities to 6,300 km for
the A220-300. “This new increased
THE AIRBUS A220 IS ATTRACTING MZFW/MLW will offer even further
INTEREST FROM AIRLINES IN THE operational flexibility to airlines in
the form of additional payload, as
ASIA-PACIFIC REGION it enables operating airlines to offer
to their passengers more weight
on-board the aircraft,” a company
ATUL CHANDRA official said.
The Airbus A220 is gaining traction A220-300 with up to 149 passen-
as a regional jetliner contender to gers on board. Airbus has now delivered more than
meet the requirements of airlines 220 A220s and has accumulated
in the Asia-Pacific region. Airbus According to an Airbus official, the over 760 orders for the type, which
completed a week-long demonstra- A220 is especially well suited to the as of July had carried over 60 mil-
tion tour of the A220 to the region Asia-Pacific region, offering longer lion passengers and operated on
in May with demonstration flights range capability, high levels of com- over 700 routes. The ‘Operational
in Sydney (Australia), Singapore, fort and 25 per cent reduction in fuel Reliability’ of the A220 as of
Hanoi (Vietnam) and Tokyo (Japan). consumption. The future growth of February was around 99 per cent.
The A220’s range and capacity the economic middle classes and “As the A220 is still a young prod-
make it ideal for carriers seeking the desire to travel will continue to uct in-service, we are working on
to open new regional routes out of drive passenger demand and the some items to continue raising our
Asia-Pacific, or those that require region could account for around 20 Operational reliability in the future,
an aircraft for lucrative but thin per cent of the forecast demand for for example,” an Airbus spokes-
routes out of the country. The A220 7,200 aircraft over the next 20 years person told AAA. As of the end of
can operate on flights as short as in the 100-150 seat size category. December 2021, the global A220
30 minutes to those that are seven fleet has completed 440,000+ flight
hours long. The A220’s range capability of up cycles, 675,000 flight hours on 550+
to 6,300 km is a key asset for oper- routes, totalling 275+ destinations.
The Asia-Pacific region is a core ators in the Asia-Pacific region, as
market for Airbus, accounting for this allows non-stop services on The new generation single-aisle
a third of its total order book and longer routes, such as from South type, entered service as the
a third of its revenues. Airbus jet- East Asia to North Asia (5-6 hours) Bombardier C Series in July 2016
liners are operated by Vietnamese and would enable opening of new and Airbus rebranded the type as
carriers such as Vietnam Airlines, routes to secondary destinations, the A220 in 2020, after purchasing
Vietjet, Bamboo Airways, Pacific both for leisure and business traffic. the programme from the troubled
Airways, and Vietravel. The A220 Canadian airframer. The 220 A220
th
is also ideal for airlines that require (an A220-300) was recently deliv-
an aircraft to complement the exist-
ing A320 Family. The A220-100 can ered to American carrier JetBlue,
seat between 100 and 130 passen- which is the largest customer
gers, while the larger A220-300 can for the type, with 100 on order
seat between 130 and 160 in typi- and 10 already in service. SWISS
cal airline layouts. Current and new International Air Lines was the first
operator of the A220.
European customers are flying the
18 | 2022 SEPTEMBER WWW . GBP. COM . SG
