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The Airbus A320neo family is a development of the
A320 family The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the fami ...
of
narrow-body airliner A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast seating in a cabin less than in width. In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner usually configured with mult ...
s produced by
Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
. The A320neo family (''neo'' for "new engine option") is based on the previous A319, A320 and A321 ( enhanced variant), which was then renamed A320ceo, for "current engine option".
Re-engine The aircraft design process is a loosely defined method used to balance many competing and demanding requirements to produce an aircraft that is strong, lightweight, economical and can carry an adequate payload while being sufficiently reliable to ...
d with CFM LEAP-1A or
Pratt & Whitney PW1000G The Pratt & Whitney PW1000G, also called the Geared Turbofan (GTF), is a high-bypass geared turbofan engine family produced by Pratt & Whitney. After many demonstrators, the program was launched with the Mitsubishi MRJ's PW1200G in March 2008 ...
engines and fitted with
sharklets Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft' ...
as standard, it is 15% to 20% more fuel efficient than the A320ceo (Enhanced) family. It was launched on 1 December 2010, made its
first flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alw ...
on 25 September 2014 and was introduced by
Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
on 25 January 2016. By 2019, the A320neo had a 60% market share against the competing
Boeing 737 MAX The Boeing 737 MAX is the fourth generation of the Boeing 737, a narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), a division of American company Boeing. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation (NG ...
. , a total of 8,502 A320neo family aircraft had been ordered by more than 130 customers, of which 2,341 aircraft had been delivered. The global A320neo fleet had completed more than 5.51 million flights over 11 million block hours without accidents.


Development

In 2006 Airbus started the A320 Enhanced (A320E) programme as a series of improvements targeting a 4–5% efficiency gain with large
winglet Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft' ...
s (2%), aerodynamic refinements (1%), weight savings and a new
aircraft cabin An aircraft cabin is the section of an aircraft in which passengers travel. Most modern commercial aircraft are pressurized, as cruising altitudes are high enough such that the surrounding atmosphere is too thin for passengers and crew to bre ...
. At the time Airbus' Sales Chief John Leahy said "Who's going to roll over a fleet to a new generation aircraft for 5% better than an A320 today? Especially if another 10% improvement might be coming in the second half of the next decade based on new engine technology". Airbus launched the sharklet blended
wingtip device Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft' ...
during the November 2009
Dubai Airshow The Dubai Airshow ( ar, معرض دبي للطيران) is a biennial air show held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in ...
. The installation adds but offers a 3.5% fuel burn reduction on flights over .


New Engine Option

Compared to the
re-engine The aircraft design process is a loosely defined method used to balance many competing and demanding requirements to produce an aircraft that is strong, lightweight, economical and can carry an adequate payload while being sufficiently reliable to ...
improvement of 15%, an all-new single-aisle would have brought only 3% more gain while high volume manufacturing in
carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
could be much more expensive. At the February 2010
Singapore Air Show The Singapore Airshow is a biennial aerospace event held in Singapore, debuted in 2008. It hosts high-level government and military delegations, as well as senior corporate executives around the world, while serving as a global event for leadin ...
, Airbus said its decision to launch was scheduled for the July 2010
Farnborough Air Show The Farnborough Airshow, officially the Farnborough International Airshow, is a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors. Since its fir ...
. The decision had still not been taken by August, but the engine choice included the
CFM International LEAP The CFM International LEAP ("Leading Edge Aviation Propulsion") is a high-bypass turbofan engine produced by CFM International, a 50–50 joint venture between American GE Aviation and French Safran Aircraft Engines (formerly Snecma). It is the ...
-1A and the
Pratt & Whitney PW1000G The Pratt & Whitney PW1000G, also called the Geared Turbofan (GTF), is a high-bypass geared turbofan engine family produced by Pratt & Whitney. After many demonstrators, the program was launched with the Mitsubishi MRJ's PW1200G in March 2008 ...
, with 20% lower maintenance cost than current A320 engines. The new engines burn 16% less fuel, though the actual gain is slightly less as 1–2% is typically lost when installed on an existing aircraft. On 1 December 2010, Airbus launched the A320neo "New Engine Option" with more range or more payload, and planned to deliver 4,000 over 15 years. Development costs were predicted to be "slightly more than €1 billion 1.3 billion. The neo list price would be $6 million more than the ceo, including $3.5 million for airframe modifications and around $0.9 million for the sharklets. The A320neo was slated for service entry in spring 2016, the A321neo six months later and the A319neo six months after that. The 2010 order for 40 Bombardier
CS300 The Airbus A220 is a family of five-abreast narrow-body airliners by Airbus Canada Limited Partnership. It was originally designed by Bombardier Aerospace, Bombardier and had two years in service as the Bombardier CSeries. The program was ...
s (now known as
Airbus A220-300 The Airbus A220 is a family of five-abreast narrow-body airliners by Airbus Canada Limited Partnership. It was originally designed by Bombardier and had two years in service as the Bombardier CSeries. The program was launched on 13 July 2 ...
) and 40 options from
Republic Airways Holdings Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. is an American airline holding corporation based in Indianapolis, Indiana, that owns Republic Airways, an American regional airline operating in the United States, and LIFT Academy, the only flight training acade ...
– then owner of exclusive A319/320 operator Frontier Airlines – pushed Airbus into the re-engine. Airbus COO-customers John Leahy decided against ignoring the CSeries and allowing it to grow, as Boeing had previously done with Airbus, and instead aggressively competed against
Bombardier Aerospace Bombardier Aviation is a division of Bombardier Inc. It is headquartered in Dorval, Quebec, Canada. Its most popular aircraft included the Dash 8 Series 400, CRJ100/200/440, and CRJ700/900/1000 lines of regional airliners, and the newer CS ...
. Introduction was then advanced to October 2015. Airbus claims a 15% fuel saving and "over 95 percent airframe commonality with the current A320". Its commonality helped to reduce delays associated with large changes. In March 2013, airlines' choices between the two engines were almost equal. The new "Space-Flex" optional cabin configuration increases space-efficiency with a new rear
galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...
configuration and a "Smart-Lav" modular
lavatory Lavatory, Lav, or Lavvy may refer to: *Toilet, the plumbing fixture *Toilet (room), containing a toilet *Public toilet *Aircraft lavatory, the public toilet on an aircraft *Latrine, a rudimentary toilet *A lavatorium, the washing facility in a mon ...
design allowing an in-flight change of two lavatories into one
accessible toilet Accessible toilets are toilets that have been specially designed to better accommodate people with physical disabilities. Persons with reduced mobility find them useful, as do those with weak legs, as a higher toilet bowl makes it easier for th ...
. The rearranged cabin allows up to 20 more passengers for the A321neo without "putting more sardines in the can" with the larger "Cabin-Flex" modified exits described below. Total fuel consumption per seat is reduced by over 20%, while the rearranged cabin allows up to nine more passengers for the A320neo. The first Airbus A320neo rolled out of the Toulouse factory on 1 July 2014 and first flight was scheduled for September 2014. File:Airbus A320neo CFM LEAP nacelle.jpg, The CFM LEAP nacelle File:Airbus A320neo PW1100G nacelle.jpg, The PW1100G nacelle


Flight testing

The first flight of the neo occurred on 25 September 2014. Its Pratt & Whitney
PW1100G The Pratt & Whitney PW1000G, also called the Geared Turbofan (GTF), is a high-bypass geared turbofan engine family produced by Pratt & Whitney. After many demonstrators, the program was launched with the Mitsubishi MRJ's PW1200G in March 2008, ...
-JM
geared turbofan The geared turbofan is a type of turbofan aircraft engine, with a gearbox between the fan and the low pressure shaft to spin each at optimum angular velocities. Technology In a conventional turbofan, a single shaft (the "low-pressure" or LP sh ...
('GTF') engine was certified by the
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
(FAA) on 19 December 2014. After 36 months, the A320neo and A321neo had flown around 4,000 hours for certification of the two powerplant versions. This is about three-quarters of the certification effort of a new design. Of these 4,000 hours flown, 2,250 were with PW GTFs and 1,770 with CFM LEAPs. The
flight test Flight testing is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops specialist equipment required for testing aircraft behaviour and systems. Instrumentation systems are developed using proprietary transducers and data acquisition systems. D ...
programme was to conclude in 2018 with the completion of A319neo testing. The changes impact
flying qualities Flying qualities is one of the three principal regimes in the science of flight test, which also includes performance and systems. Flying qualities involves the study and evaluation of the stability and control characteristics of an aircraft. They h ...
, performance and system integration; they entailed retuning the
fly-by-wire Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic signals transmitted by wires, and flight control ...
controls and meeting
type certification A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applic ...
requirements which have evolved since 1988, and helped decrease the minimum
V speeds In aviation, V-speeds are standard terms used to define airspeeds important or useful to the operation of all aircraft. These speeds are derived from data obtained by aircraft designers and manufacturers during flight testing for aircraft type- ...
. The neo is 1.8t heavier than the ceo, but take-off and landing performance is the same with a modified
rotation Rotation, or spin, is the circular movement of an object around a '' central axis''. A two-dimensional rotating object has only one possible central axis and can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. A three-dimensional ...
law, adjusted
wing flap A flap is a high-lift device used to reduce the stalling speed of an aircraft wing at a given weight. Flaps are usually mounted on the wing trailing edges of a fixed-wing aircraft. Flaps are used to reduce the take-off distance and the landin ...
and wing slat angles and
rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...
deflection increased by 5° to cope with the higher thrust. The A320neo is half as loud as an A320 at take-off, with an 85 decibel noise footprint. The LEAP-powered A321neo has 83.3 dB flyover noise, substantially lower than the older
CFM56 The CFM International CFM56 (U.S. military designation F108) series is a Franco-American family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines made by CFM International (CFMI), with a thrust range of . CFMI is a 50–50 joint-owned company of Safran ...
and
V2500 The IAE V2500 is a two-shaft high-bypass turbofan engine built by International Aero Engines (IAE) which powers the Airbus A320 family, the McDonnell Douglas MD-90, and the Embraer C-390 Millennium. The engine's name is a combination of the Rom ...
.


Production

First delivery slipped to early 2016.
Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
took delivery of the first A320neo on 20 January 2016. Two hundred deliveries were targeted in 2017, but as Pratt & Whitney faced ramp-up difficulties, Airbus expected that 30 aircraft would have to be parked awaiting engines. The fourth and latest final
assembly line An assembly line is a manufacturing process (often called a ''progressive assembly'') in which parts (usually interchangeable parts) are added as the semi-finished assembly moves from workstation to workstation where the parts are added in seq ...
in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
was to open in July 2017; 60 A320s should be produced monthly from 2019. With 90 A320neos delivered by October 2017, Airbus acknowledged that it would not attain the 200 target, even with many deliveries in the fourth quarter. More than 40 A320neos were parked without engines, but with most of the engine issues resolved by early 2018, more than half of the A320s delivered in 2018 were expected to be neos. Airbus expected to produce 60 narrow-bodies per month by the middle of 2019 and studied higher rates. Airbus confirmed plans to reach 63 monthly from 55 in 2018 and study 70 to 75 monthly beyond 2019, though
Safran Safran S.A. is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures aircraft engines, rocket engines as well as various aerospace and defense-related equipment or their components. It was formed by a merger between SNECMA and ...
, one of the two partners in LEAP producer CFM, could not commit to higher volumes. In February 2018, after in-flight failures of the
PW1100G The Pratt & Whitney PW1000G, also called the Geared Turbofan (GTF), is a high-bypass geared turbofan engine family produced by Pratt & Whitney. After many demonstrators, the program was launched with the Mitsubishi MRJ's PW1200G in March 2008, ...
with its high pressure compressor aft hub modified, apparently caused by problems with its knife edge
seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
,
European Aviation Safety Agency The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitorin ...
(EASA) and Airbus grounded some A320neo family aircraft until they were fitted with spares. , P&W engines had flown 500,000 hours since introduction and 113 P&W-powered A320neo family aircraft were operated by eight customers. Airbus then stopped accepting PW1100G engines. Deliveries of GTF-powered A320neos resumed in May after Pratt returned to the original design seal as a quick fix. By the end of June, Airbus expected to have around 100 A320neos awaiting engines and aimed to deliver most of them in the second half of the year, for a total of over 800 aircraft handed over in 2018. In the first five months of 2018, 69 had been delivered: 40% of all single-aisles, and almost 80% with CFM LEAP engines, but the 22 delivered in May were equally split between the two power plants. After the three-month halt, the goal of 210 GTF-powered deliveries in 2018 was expected to be missed by 30–40 unless Pratt could accelerate production, exposing itself and Airbus to late penalties. Airbus COO
Guillaume Faury Guillaume Faury (born 22 February 1968) is a French engineer and businessman. He is the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the aerospace corporation Airbus SE as well as the Chairman of its civil aircraft division, Airbus SAS. Career Wo ...
aimed to do away with "gliders", i.e. airframes without engines, by the end of 2018. Bernstein Research had forecast 50 fewer deliveries than planned and expected a return to normal by 2019. Delivery targets could still be met with other engine options (neo or ceo), as 210 Leap-powered jets were planned. After having peaked above 100, the number of aircraft parked awaiting their turbofans declined to 86 by the end of June. The 500th A320neo family aircraft was delivered in October 2018. In July 2019, with the A321neo accounting for 40% of sales, Airbus was examining options for allocating more production capacity to the stretched variant. It acknowledged that ramping up production of the popular Airbus Cabin Flex configuration was proving challenging. All A321s are currently assembled in Hamburg; one option under consideration would be to repurpose the A380 assembly line in Toulouse. In the first half of 2019, Airbus delivered A320/A320neo-family aircraft, of which 71 were A321neos and 163 were A320neos (i.e. A321neos accounted for % of neo deliveries). In January 2020, Airbus confirmed that the A380 assembly line is to be converted to a "digitally enabled" final assembly facility for the A321neo by mid-2022, because of unprecedented demand, in particular for the A321 LR and XLR variants. In February, it indicated that it had a clear path to increasing production rates beyond the 63 per month targeted for 2021, to reach 65 or 67 by 2023. In April, Airbus reduced the average production rate to 40 per month due to the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the airline industry due to travel restrictions and a decimation in demand among travelers. Significant reductions in passenger numbers have resulted in flights being cancelled or planes ...
from 2020. In February 2021 Airbus set up a separate production line in Hamburg for A321XLR aft fuselage work, in a facility formerly used to assemble fuselage sections for the A380. The goal is to enable production of the XLR-specific aft fuselage to ramp up gradually without affecting other A320neo-family production output. Other A321XLR sections are to be produced at numerous sites: the centre
wing box The wingbox of a fixed-wing aircraft refers to the primary load-carrying structure of the wing, which forms the structural centre of the wings and also the attachment point for other wing components such as leading edge flaps, trailing edge flaps ...
at Airbus's Nantes facility, the rear centre tank at
Premium Aerotec Premium AEROTEC is a German aerospace manufacturing business, headquartered in Augsburg in Germany. It is a subsidiary of Airbus. The company was created in September 2008 as a spin off from the multinational aerospace group EADS, which subse ...
in Augsburg, the nose and forward fuselage built at
Stelia Aerospace Stelia Aerospace (stylized STELIA Aerospace) is an aerospace company headquartered in Toulouse, France. It specializes in the design and manufacture of aerostructures, pilot seats and premium class passenger seats, mainly for the commercial a ...
in Toulouse then assembled in Saint-Nazaire, and the wings at Airbus Broughton in cooperation with
Spirit Aerosystems Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc., based in Wichita, Kansas, is the world's largest first-tier aerostructures manufacturer. The company builds several important pieces of Boeing aircraft, including the fuselage of the 737, portions of the 787 fu ...
and which provide high-lift devices. In May 2021, Airbus targeted a production rate of 45 per month by the end of 2021, 64 by the second quarter of 2023, asked its supply chain to allow a rate of 70 from the first quarter of 2024 and is looking for 75 by 2025.


Replacement wing

In 2015, Airbus started a new wing project, announced as the "Wing of the future" programme in 2017. A new 1-2 billion carbon-composite wing could be used in the A321neo-plus-plus, compared to $15 billion for a completely new design. The new wing is made from
composite material A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...
. It is first seen as an upgrade to the existing, mostly metal A320 family wing, which was already upgraded many times. Airbus has already composite wings on the A350, but this will be an enhanced, new design with highly automated manufacturing suitable for inexpensive high-volume production. Announced in January 2016, a €44.8 million facility was built in
Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church ...
, with 300 engineers. The new wing design and tests take place in this Filton facility. Other Airbus locations in the UK, France, Spain and Germany are working with 30 partners on this wing project. In May 2021, Airbus announced that for improved aerodynamic performance the wing will be longer and thinner with folding wingtips to access existing airport gates. By May 2021, assembly of the first demonstrator was to start in the coming weeks, as the project should be completed by 2023 before an eventual product launch. A “radical” A320 makeover is expected to cost over 4 billion euros ($4.9 billion), significantly less than the estimates of $15 billion to $20 billion for an all-new Boeing design. Due to the increased length and increased
lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobil ...
, the new wings could also be used on an Airbus A322, an A321 lengthened by 4 passenger seat-rows, being studied by Airbus. The current A320neo family
wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...
of 36m with an aspect-ratio of 9 will be extended by ground-folding wingtips to 45m with an aspect-ratio of 14. Additional semi- aeroelastic hinges could lead to 52m wingspan with an aspect-ratio of 18, still fitting in a standard 36m
airport gate A gate is an area in an airport terminal that controls access to a passenger aircraft. While the exact specifications vary from airport to airport and country to country, most gates consist of a seated waiting area, a counter and a doorway leading ...
. In September 2021, Airbus announced starting the assembly of in total 3 full-size "Wing of Tomorrow" prototypes. The first prototype was completed in December 2021. The flapping wing section flight tests are targeted to begin in late 2023.


Replacement airliner

By November 2018, Airbus was hiring in Toulouse and Madrid to develop a clean sheet successor for the A320. Although its launch was not guaranteed, it was expected to arrive from the middle of the following decade, after the A321XLR and a stretched A320neo "plus", and would have competed with the Boeing NMA that was, at the time, expected to be launched as early as 2019. Service entry would be determined by ultra-high
bypass ratio The bypass ratio (BPR) of a turbofan engine is the ratio between the mass flow rate of the bypass stream to the mass flow rate entering the core. A 10:1 bypass ratio, for example, means that 10 kg of air passes through the bypass duct for ev ...
engine developments pursued by Pratt & Whitney, testing its Geared Turbofan upgrade; Safran, ground testing a demonstrator from 2021; and
Rolls-Royce Plc Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...
, targeting a 2025
Ultrafan The Rolls-Royce Trent is a family of high-bypass turbofans produced by Rolls-Royce. It continues the three spool architecture of the RB211 with a maximum thrust ranging from . Launched as the RB-211-524L in June 1988, the prototype first r ...
service entry. The production target is a monthly rate of 100 narrow-bodies, up from 60. At the November 2019 Dubai air show, Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury said the company was considering the launch of a single-aisle programme in the second half of the 2020s for an introduction in the early 2030s.


Operational history

By January 2019, three years after its introduction, 585 neos were in commercial service with over 60 operators, led by
IndiGo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...
(87), Frontier Airlines (33) and China Southern (26). Lufthansa confirms the PW 16% fuel savings, 21% per seat with denser 180-seat layout up from 168, while
Avianca Avianca S.A. ( acronym in Spanish for ''Aerovias del Continente Americano S.A.'', "Airways of the American Continent") is a Colombian airline. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it was initially registered und ...
states its LEAPs are 15-20% more efficient, quieter, reduce oil consumption and routine maintenance. Starting both GTFs initially took 6-7 min up from the A320ceo's 2 min, improving to 2-3 min by late 2017, still longer than the ceo. LEAP production bottlenecks led to early delivery delays, with no significant repercussions at Avianca or
AirAsia Capital A Berhad, () operating as AirAsia (stylized as ''airasia'') is a Malaysian multinational low-cost airline headquartered near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the largest airline in Malaysia by fleet size and destinations. AirAsia operate ...
; AirAsia's dispatch reliability is comparable to its ceos. On 30 November 2021, two years after receiving the 1,000th member of the A320neo family, IndiGo took delivery of the 2,000th, an A321neo (MSN 10654) at Airbus Hamburg site. , the global A320neo fleet had completed more than 5.51 million flights over 11 million block hours since its entry into service and had been contributing to 15 million tons of saving.


Engine and dispatch reliability

Engine vibration affects one GTF in 50, leading to premature replacement, but spare engine pools compete with new production: at Lufthansa, dispatch reliability has remained stagnant since service entry and is below its 99.8% goal, with a
utilization rate In business, the utilization rate is an important number for firms that charge their time to clients and for those that need to maximize the productive time of their employees. It can reflect the billing efficiency or the overall productive us ...
20% below its ceos. P&W cites a 99.91% dispatch reliability for GTF-powered neos, higher than other new engine introductions, while Airbus reports a 99.6% dispatch reliability. With engine deliveries resuming, there were expected to be fewer than 10 engine-less neos at the end of 2018; Airbus is on track to reach its target rate of 60 deliveries per month by mid-2019. Of the 6,362 orders, 2,456 are for
CFM LEAP The CFM International LEAP ("Leading Edge Aviation Propulsion") is a high-bypass turbofan engine produced by CFM International, a 50–50 joint venture between American GE Aviation and French Safran Aircraft Engines (formerly Snecma). It is th ...
engines (%), 1,869 for Pratt & Whitney GTFs (%), and 2,037 for an as-yet unspecified engine choice (%). By 30 June 2019, Safran claimed the Leap has a 61% market share on the A320neo family, with 44 airlines operating 454 Leap powered aircraft having accumulated 3.3 million flight hours. In early 2022, 57% of in service A320neos were fitted with Leap engines, and 43% with PW1100G engines.


Flight control software update

In July 2019, Airbus disclosed two outwardly similar, though separate, issues which could result in excessive pitch up behaviour, one affecting the A320neo and the other the A321neo. Both issues were detected during analysis and laboratory testing, and have not been encountered in actual operation. Airbus has addressed the issues through temporary revisions to the flight manual, including loading recommendations and a change to the centre-of-gravity envelope, and expected to release updated flight control software in 2020. As Lufthansa waited for the 2020 flight software update, it blocked the last row of its aft-heavy layout of 180, offering only 174 seats.


Military conversion

In 2018, Airbus explored the possibility of military versions, for
VIP transport A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots. Examples i ...
,
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ISTAR stands for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employing its sensors and managing t ...
and maritime patrol for the armed forces of France, Germany and the Netherlands; or Asia-Pacific nations such as Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. Such conversions would be possible within a six-to-eight-month timescale.


Variants

Airbus offers three variants of the A320neo family: the A319, A320 and A321. A ''neo'' variant for the
Airbus A318 Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...
was not proposed but could be developed should demand arise.


A319neo

The shortened-
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
variant can seat up to 160 passengers or 140 in two classes, with a range of up to and improved takeoff performance, while its ACJ derivative can fly eight passengers or 15 hours. Qatar Airways was set to be launch customer but upgraded its order to the larger A320neo in late 2013, with no new launch operator named since then.
Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
later ordered 47 new A319neo aircraft. The A319neo made its first flight on 31 March 2017, powered by CFM LEAP engines. After 500 flight hours, the LEAP-powered A319neo achieved FAA/EASA Type Certification by 21 December 2018, allowing it to enter service in the first half of 2019. At the time 53 aircraft had been ordered, including 17 with Leap engines: 12 for Avianca, four for an unconfirmed Chinese operator (later known as
China Southern Airlines China Southern Airlines Company Limited is an airline headquartered in Baiyun District, Guangzhou, Baiyun District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province and is the largest airline in China. Established on 1 July 1988 following the restructuring of ...
, which became the launch operator), and one ACJ319neo; and 36 with no engine selection: eight for Avianca, 26 for unannounced customers, and two ACJ319neos. , certification of the
PW1100G The Pratt & Whitney PW1000G, also called the Geared Turbofan (GTF), is a high-bypass geared turbofan engine family produced by Pratt & Whitney. After many demonstrators, the program was launched with the Mitsubishi MRJ's PW1200G in March 2008, ...
-powered version was planned for the end of 2019, with the same test aircraft to be converted during the first quarter and undergo 200 hours of flight testing. In 2018, an A319neo list price was US$101.5 million. Interest in the variant has been low, and in January 2019 the A319neo's order backlog was only a fraction of that of the A220, following confirmation of orders from
JetBlue JetBlue Airways Corporation (stylized as jetBlue) is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh largest airline in North America by passengers carried. The airline is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York C ...
and
Moxy Moxy may refer to: * Moxy (airline), formerly proposed name for the airline Breeze Airways in the United States * Moxy (band), a Canadian hard rock band formed in the 1970s ** ''Moxy'' (album), 1975 ** '' Moxy II'', 1976 * Moxy Engineering, a No ...
for 60 A220s each. Also in January 2019, Airbus confirmed that, while it expects fewer orders due to competition with the A220-300, it has no plans to discontinue the A319neo. The Pratt & Whitney-powered variant made its maiden flight on 25 April 2019. It gained EASA type certification by the end of November 2019, after 90 sorties over 240 h. As of May 2021, six ACJ319neo aircraft had been ordered. On 18 February 2022, China Southern Airlines received the first of its order of four A319neo with CFM LEAP engines.


A320neo

; Timeline The first A320neo rolled out of the Airbus factory in Toulouse on 1 July 2014. It first flew on 25 September 2014. A joint type certification from EASA and the FAA was received on 24 November 2015. Nearly 28 years after the first
A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the famil ...
, on 25 January 2016, the A320neo entered service with Lufthansa, the type's launch customer. It has a range of . ; Reliability Six months later at Farnborough Airshow, John Leahy reported that the eight in-service aircraft had achieved 99.7% dispatch reliability. By the end of February 2017, 28,105 scheduled flights had been performed by 71 A320neo aircraft with 134 cancellations for a 99.5% completion rate. Spirit Airlines reported PW1000G engine issues on four of its A320neos and did not fly them above because the
bleed air Bleed air is compressed air taken from the compressor stage of a gas turbine upstream of its fuel-burning sections. Automatic air supply and cabin pressure controller (ASCPCs) valves bleed air from high or low stage engine compressor sections. Lo ...
system froze shut on occasion due to cold temperatures; the same problem was reported by IndiGo. ; Efficiency After a year in service, Lufthansa confirmed the 20% efficiency gain per passenger with up to 180 seats, along with reduced noise and emissions. Operators confirm the 15% per seat fuel-burn savings even counterbalanced by the added weight on short sectors, which can rise to 16–17% on longer routes and to 20% or more for Lufthansa with 180 passengers up from 168 with two more seat rows. ; Deliveries By March 2017, 88 A320neos had been delivered to 20 airlines, 49 with the PW1000G and 39 with the CFM LEAP-1A, and the fleet had accumulated more than 57,600 flight hours and 37,500 cycles (h average); over 142 routes the average stage length is and like the A320ceo the neo flies an average of 8.4 block hours and up to 10 cycles a day with Lufthansa operating 45 min sectors from Frankfurt to Hamburg or Munich, up to China Southern Airlines flying close to 6 hr sectors. Airbus plans to deliver about 200 A320neos in 2017. In 2018, new A320neos have a $49 million value, rising by 1-2% per year, and are leased for $330,000-350,000 per month (-%) due to intense
lessor Lessor may refer to: * Lessor (leasing), the owner of leased property or the agent authorized on the owner's behalf * Lessor, Wisconsin, a town in U.S.A. * Lessor Township, Minnesota, U.S.A. See also * Lesser {{disambig, geo ...
competition and low financing costs, while a recent A320ceo is leased for $300,000. In 2018, an A320neo list price was US$110.6 million. ; Military A320M3A In July 2018, Airbus was evaluating an A320neo variant for ISR missions, particularly
maritime patrol {{Unreferenced, date=March 2008 Maritime patrol is the task of monitoring areas of water. Generally conducted by military and law enforcement agencies, maritime patrol is usually aimed at identifying human activities. Maritime patrol refers to ac ...
and
anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...
, and military transport. The aircraft will be able to take roll-on/roll-off mission payloads to carry passengers, troops, VIPs,
patient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health c ...
s, or cargo. The aircraft could be fitted with a weapons bay, a self-protection system, or a
magnetic anomaly detector A magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) is an instrument used to detect minute variations in the Earth's magnetic field. The term refers specifically to magnetometers used by military forces to detect submarines (a mass of ferromagnetic material crea ...
and could be configured for
signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...
or Airborne Early Warning and Control.


A321neo

This lengthened fuselage variant has structural strengthening in the
landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...
and
wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...
, increased
wing loading In aerodynamics, wing loading is the total mass of an aircraft or flying animal divided by the area of its wing. The stalling speed of an aircraft in straight, level flight is partly determined by its wing loading. An aircraft or animal with a ...
and other minor modifications due to higher Maximum Takeoff Weight (
MTOW The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to take off, due to structural or other limits. The analogous ...
). Its first customer was
ILFC The International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) was an aircraft lessor headquartered in the Constellation Place in Century City, Los Angeles, California, US. It was the world's largest aircraft lessor by value, though ILFC's rival, General El ...
. The Airbus A321neo prototype, D-AVXB, first flew on 9 February 2016. It suffered a
tailstrike In aviation, a tailstrike or tail strike occurs when the tail or empennage of an aircraft strikes the ground or other stationary object. This can happen with a fixed-wing aircraft with tricycle undercarriage, in both takeoff where the pilot rot ...
three days later and was flown to Toulouse for repairs, delaying the certification programme for several weeks. It received its type certification with Pratt & Whitney engines on 15 December 2016, and simultaneous EASA and FAA certification for the CFM Leap powered variant on 1 March 2017. The first A321neo, leased by
GECAS GECAS (GE Capital Aviation Services) was an Irish–American commercial aviation financing and leasing company. AerCap acquired the company from GE Capital on November 1, 2021. GECAS was the largest commercial airline leasing/financing company in ...
, was delivered in Hamburg to Virgin America, configured with 184 seats and LEAP engines, and entered service in May 2017. The neo empty weight is 1.8t more than the ceo due to new engines and associated airframe modifications: engine pylons, wing structure and bleed and oil systems were adapted. At the same maximum weight, it reaches FL310 30-nm before and 4 min earlier than the CEO. At FL330 (10 000 m), ISA and , it burns at Mach 0.76 / long-range cruise or at Mach 0.80 / high-speed cruise. To offer similar takeoff performance, pitch response to stick input is a rate-command to hit the 3°/sec rotation rate to capture the right pitch attitude and there is an "electronic tail bumper" preventing a tailstrike if the stick is less than three-quarters of the way aft; additional thrust, slower rotation and lift-off speeds require more rudder authority and its maximum deflection went from 25° to 30°. By January 2018, the A321neo had received 1,920 orders, exceeding orders for the A321ceo. By this time the A321neo accounted for 32% of all A320neo family orders, whereas the original A321 represented just 22% of A320ceo family orders. By July 2022, the A321neo represented over 53% of all A320neo family orders. A stretch would probably involve fore and aft plugs to keep its centre-of-gravity, but tailstrike clearance could constrain
field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...
speed and performance and a larger aircraft could need more powerful engines, while further
cabin crew A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are primar ...
would be needed over 250 seats. In 2018, an A321neo list price was US$129.5 million. Stretching it by one or two rows would be needed to compete with the Boeing NMA, a concept airliner: its take-off weight could increase to by tweaking its wing and strengthening its landing gear, requiring more engine thrust; or it could receive a lighter and larger new wing, more costly to develop but with the same thrust.


Delivery delays

As Pratt & Whitney encountered early reliability issues with the PW1100G, retrofitting fixes affected the deliveries.
Cebu Pacific Cebu Air, Inc., operating as Cebu Pacific (), is a low-cost airline of the Philippines. Founded in 1988, it is Asia's oldest low-cost airline. It offers scheduled flights to both domestic and international destinations. The airline operates fl ...
was due to add its first three A321neos to its 40 A320ceos by the end of 2017 but agreed to postpone them; it was to receive seven A321ceos in 2018, starting in March, to upgauge A320 routes from slot-constrained Manila Airport and redeploy some of its international
A330 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...
s to shorter-haul routes.
Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacific ...
has at least seven A321neos in its 13 A320-family orders, increasing seating capacity by 27% over A320ceos currently used on short-haul international routes, mainly to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
; the neos will be delayed until July 2018 for the A320neos and September 2018 for the A321neos with a new, higher density and some A320ceo leases will be extended for the interim. Hawaiian's first two A321neos were to have been delivered in 2017 before its upcoming winter peak season but were postponed to early 2018, a "frustrating" and "irritating" delay, with another nine in 2018, mostly in the first half. They are intended to open up thinner routes to the U.S. mainland not viable with its widebodies, such as
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
to
Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
, or better matched and allowing two routes to be expanded to daily service instead of seasonal, bypassing its
Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
hub for half of the A321neo fleet. Well suited for routes to the US west coast, Hawaiian's 189-seat A321neos are more efficient than the competing narrow-body aircraft and even have slightly lower per-seat costs than its 294-seat A330-200s.


Cabin Flex

By permanently replacing the second door pair in front of the wing (R2/L2) with a new second pair of
overwing exit Overwing exits are found on passenger aircraft to provide a means of evacuation onto the wing, where passengers continue off the trailing edge, either by sliding down the extended flaps or by using an evacuation slide that deploys when the exit ...
s, the capacity of the A321neo is increased from 220 seats to 240 seats and fuel efficiency per seat is increased by 6%, exceeding 20% together with the new engines and the sharklets. The modifications should weigh 100 kg more. Initial A321neos have the A321ceo exit door configuration with four exit door pairs until the Airbus Cabin-Flex (ACF) layout can be selected. The third door pair (R3/L3), aft of the wings, is moved aft four frames back and could be plugged for 195 seats or less, and one overwing exit can be plugged for 165 seats or less. In October 2017, the first A321neo ACF was in final assembly in Hamburg. It was rolled out on 5 January 2018, and will be ground tested before first flight in the following weeks. It was to be delivered in mid-2018 and the optional layout will become the A321neo default from 2020. It made its first flight on 31 January 2018. The ACF exit limit is 250 passengers, but the aircraft is available for up to 240 passengers; it could be offered for 244 or potentially beyond by integrating
flight attendant A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...
seats in the lavatories outside wall to allow additional passenger seats. The EASA allows 244 passengers with "overperforming" Type C exits at both ends, two Type III overwing exits, a Type C mid-cabin exit and a separate approval for individual customised cabin layouts. The
FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
would limit it to 200 as the mid-cabin exit would be derated to a Type III exit: 65 each for Type C doors at the ends plus 70 for all the Type III exits; Airbus seeks an exemption to increase it to 105 for 235 passengers for the aircraft. Four different door-arrangement configurations are noted below. File:F-HBUZ ORY (48666458428).jpg, This
La Compagnie La Compagnie, legally incorporated as DreamJet SAS, is a French boutique airline founded by Frantz Yvelin and based at Orly Airport in Paris, with headquarters in Le Bourget in the Paris metropolitan area. It offers all-business class fl ...
A321neo has both 2 of the 4 overwing exits and doors R3/L3 plugged (seating: 76, maximum: 165). File:STARLUX Airlines Airbus A321-252NX B-58201 (49058096997).jpg, This Starlux Airlines A321neo has doors R3/L3 plugged and replaced with windows (seating: 188, maximum: 195). File:British Airways, G-NEOU, Airbus A321-251NX (49585196283).jpg, This
British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...
A321neo has doors R3/L3 enabled, but 2 of the 4 overwing exits plugged (seating/maximum: 220). File:JetBlue Airways Airbus A321-271NX N2016J at JFK Airport.jpg, This
JetBlue JetBlue Airways Corporation (stylized as jetBlue) is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh largest airline in North America by passengers carried. The airline is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York C ...
A321neo has all 10 available exits in Cabin Flex enabled (seating: 200, maximum: 244).


A321LR

In October 2014, Airbus started marketing a 164-seat, MTOW variant with three auxiliary
fuel tanks A fuel tank (also called a petrol tank or gas tank) is a safe container for flammable fluids. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propelled ...
called the A321neoLR (Long Range) with more operational range than a
Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its mai ...
-200 configured with 169 seats, 27% lower trip costs and 24% lower per seat costs; it was scheduled for introduction in the second half of 2018, two years after the A321neo. Airbus launched the A321LR on 13 January 2015 with
Air Lease Corporation Air Lease Corporation (ALC) is an American aircraft leasing company founded in 2010 and headed by Steven F. Udvar-Házy. Air Lease purchases new commercial aircraft through direct orders from Boeing, Airbus, Embraer and ATR, and leases them to ...
as the launch customer, hoping to sell 1,000 examples of the variant. The initial layout of 164 seats (20 in business, 30 in
premium economy Premium economy class, also known as elite economy class or economy plus class, is a travel class offered on some airlines. It is usually positioned between standard economy class and business class in terms of price, comfort, and available a ...
and 114 in economy) was replaced by a two-class 206-seat configuration (16 in business and 190 in economy). Range is , farther than the regular 93.5t MTOW A321neo. The A321LR is replacing the 757 in the
middle of the market The middle of the market, often abbreviated MoM, is the airliner market between the narrowbody and the widebody aircraft, a market segmentation used by Boeing Commercial Airplanes since at least 2003. Both Airbus and Boeing produce aircraft th ...
. The A321LR will have the Cabin Flex layout and was to be first delivered in Q4 2018. Certification is aimed for the second quarter of 2018, with a programme including tests with one, two, three, or no additional centre tanks and a transatlantic flight on 13 February. Test flights included a Leap-powered, long range flight by
great circle distance The great-circle distance, orthodromic distance, or spherical distance is the distance along a great circle. It is the shortest distance between two points on the surface of a sphere, measured along the surface of the sphere (as opposed to a st ...
, flown in near 11 h and the equivalent of 162 passengers over including headwinds, with five crew and 11 technicians. Airbus announced its joint FAA/EASA certification on 2 October 2018, including
ETOPS ETOPS () is an acronym for ''Extended-range Twin-engine Operations Performance Standards''—a special part of flight rules for one-engine-inoperative flight conditions. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) coined the acronym for ...
up to 180 min allowing any transatlantic route. As original launch operator
Primera Air Primera Air Scandinavia A/S, trading as Primera Air, was a Danish airline owned by Primera Travel Group. It provided scheduled and charter passenger services from Northern Europe to more than 40 destinations in the Mediterranean, Middle East ...
ceased operations, the first will be delivered to Israeli carrier Arkia, while 120 orders have been secured from about 12 operators: Norwegian,
TAP Air Portugal TAP Air Portugal is the currently state-owned flag carrier airline of Portugal, headquartered at Lisbon Airport which also serves as its hub. TAP – Transportes Aéreos Portugueses – has been a member of the Star Alliance since 2005 and oper ...
,
Air Transat Air Transat is a Canadian airline based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1986, it is the country's third-largest airline behind Air Canada and WestJet, operating scheduled and charter flights serving 60 destinations in 25 countries. Air Transa ...
,
Aer Lingus Aer Lingus ( ; an anglicisation of the Irish , meaning "air fleet" compare Welsh 'llynges awyr') is the flag carrier of Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a wholly owned subsidiary ...
,
Air Astana Air Astana ( kk, Эйр Астана, translit=Eir Astana; russian: Эйр Астана́, translit=) is an airline group based in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It operates scheduled international and domestic services on 64 routes from its main hub, Alma ...
, Air Arabia and
Azores Airlines Azores Airlines, previously known as SATA Internacional, is a Portuguese airline based in the municipality of Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel in the autonomous archipelago of the Azores. A subsidiary of SATA Air Açores, the airline ...
will receive theirs from 2019, and Jetstar and Peach in 2020. On 13 November 2018, Arkia received the first A321LR, featuring 220 seats in a single-class and to be deployed to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, Paris, Barcelona for up to 5h sectors, or to Zanzibar and the Seychelles, saying it is the first narrow-body more efficient than the 757-300 it operates. In April 2019, JetBlue announced its intention to use the A321LR on routes to London from
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
; the airline has converted 13 of its orders for the A321neo to the A321LR to serve these routes. The airline started its service from New York-JFK to
London Heathrow Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...
on 11 August 2021, and to
London Gatwick Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after Hea ...
on 29 September.


A321XLR

In January 2018, Airbus stated that it was studying an A321LR variant with a further increased MTOW needing a strengthened landing gear. With a lower-density cabin it was expected to fly almost . It would cover more of the market segment likely to be targeted by the Boeing NMA. The proposed A321XLR with a range extended to would be launched in 2019 to enter service in 2021 or 2022. Integrated in the fuselage to save weight, the centre fuel tank would be enlarged. , about 200–300 nmi of the targeted range increase had already been secured; additional work would be needed to achieve the remaining 200 nmi. In October 2018, the A321XLR was proposed to Air Transat and
AerCap AerCap Holdings N.V. is an Irish aircraft leasing company based in Dublin. It became the largest aircraft leasing company in the world after acquiring International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) in 2014, then GECAS from General Electric in ...
: Air Transat could reach Southern European destinations such as
Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...
, Croatia from
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
and
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. In November, Airbus indicated that the A321XLR would have a MTOW of over and more range than the A321LR with the same wing and engines, increased fuel capacity and strengthened landing gear. In January 2019,
Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and ...
expressed interest in using narrow-body aircraft for transatlantic routes and was considering options including the A321XLR and the
Boeing 737 MAX The Boeing 737 MAX is the fourth generation of the Boeing 737, a narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), a division of American company Boeing. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation (NG ...
.


=Commercial launch

= The A321XLR was officially launched at the
Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (french: Salon international de l'aéronautique et de l'espace de Paris-Le Bourget, Salon du Bourget) is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France. Organized by the French ...
on 17 June 2019, with deliveries expected from 2024. Its design offers of range and features a new permanent Rear Centre Tank (RCT) for more fuel, a strengthened landing gear for a MTOW, and an optimised wing trailing-edge flap to preserve take-off performance. The RCT will hold of fuel, the equivalent of four current ACTs, while it weighs like one and takes up the space of two; a forward ACT can also be fitted if necessary. As the sharklets lowered take-off and landing speeds, the switch from a double- slotted to single-slotted inboard flap will reduce complexity, weight and drag, and the FMS can set intermediate flap positions; the revised design could be applied to other A321neo variants. Orders from several lessors and airlines were announced at the show, starting with
Middle East Airlines Middle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. ( ar, طيران الشرق الأوسط ـ الخطوط الجوية اللبنانية ''Ṭayyarān al-Sharq al-Awsaṭ – al-Khuṭūṭ al-jawiyyah al-lubnāniyyah''), more commonly known as Middle ...
, which ordered four A321XLRs, making it the launch airline customer. Air Lease Corporation ordered twenty-seven A321XLRs alongside twenty-three other A321neos and fifty A220-300s. IAG quoted a $142 million list price as it committed to 28 aircraft, including eight for
Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
, six for Aer Lingus, plus 14 options.
Qantas Group Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
placed an order for 36 XLRs, to be operated on routes between Australia and
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, and is also set to be one of the launch customers.
American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
converted 30 A321neo orders to XLRs and ordered an additional 20 XLRs.
Indigo Partners Indigo Partners, LLC is an American private equity firm which has a controlling interest in the American Frontier Airlines and Chilean low-cost JetSmart, as well as holding stakes in Mexican budget airline Volaris and European low-cost carrier ...
also placed an order for 50 XLRs for its airline divisions and Frontier Airlines ordered 18, bringing the total number of commitments announced at the show to 243. Some are cautious about the potential market: Lufthansa sees the variant as a "niche aircraft" less comfortable than widebodies, and a large lessor is hesitant as it expects a 400–500 aircraft market. Airbus argues that the minimal changes mean it can be used as a regular A321neo and ALC forecast potential for 50 operators in the next five years. The market could prefer shorter turnaround times to more range. On 29 October 2019, IndiGo placed a firm order for 300 A320neo Family aircraft comprising a mix of A320neo, A321neoLR and A321XLR aircraft, taking IndiGo's total number of A320neo family aircraft orders to 730. Airbus monthly reports lists the 300 order as 87 A320neo and 213 A321neoLR/A321XLR. On 3 December 2019,
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.
announced an order to purchase 50 new Airbus A321XLR aircraft, with deliveries beginning in 2024, to replace their Boeing 757-200 fleet. Valued at $7.1 billion before discounts ($M each), United plans to use these aircraft for additional destinations in Europe from its East Coast hubs in Washington and Newark, New Jersey. In April 2020, 450 orders for the XLR had been received from 24 customers.


=Manufacturing

= The XLR needs 10–15% more work than an ACF, itself requiring 30% more work than a standard A321neo. Engines used for now generate of thrust and could be sufficient, and no more than the already certified are needed for the XLR. The XLR is a low-risk, high-commonality variant but more substantial upgrades could include a composite wing or a stretch. By April 2020, Airbus had cut the first metal for the centre wingbox, while Safran had begun undercarriage
forging Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which i ...
s production. Premium Aerotec will manufacture the specific aft centre fuel tank primary structure, Spirit AeroSystems will build the inboard single-slotted flap,
FACC AG FACC may refer to: * Fanconi anemia, complementation group C, a protein that delays the onset of apoptosis and promotes homologous recombination repair of damaged DNA * Fellow of the American College of Cardiology * Ford Aerospace Corporation For ...
will produce a modified belly fairing, while Collins Aerospace and Parker Aerospace are developing the fuel systems. By August 2020, Premium Aerotec had started producing the rear centre tank for the first A321XLR in
Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
, to be transferred to Airbus's Hamburg plant in early 2021. By April 2021, a standard A321LR fuselage section had been withdrawn from the Hamburg production line for use as a "pre-industrial system accelerator" to test the integration of XLR-specific systems; at Saint-Nazaire, a nose section was serving as an integration test bed for a new instrument panel assembly, before being used to analyse structural reinforcements needed for the XLR. By then, Airbus had completed the first centre wing box 16 months after the first metal cuts, with 200 modifications from the standard design, delivered from Nantes to Hamburg for structural assembly. The fuselage sections, wings, landing gear and tailplanes of the first test airplane were delivered to the Hamburg Final Assembly Line in November, and its structure was completed by early December, among three planned development aircraft, and before entry into service in 2023. As of May 2022, the A321XLR prototype has been completed, equipped with
CFM Leap The CFM International LEAP ("Leading Edge Aviation Propulsion") is a high-bypass turbofan engine produced by CFM International, a 50–50 joint venture between American GE Aviation and French Safran Aircraft Engines (formerly Snecma). It is th ...
engines. The first flight took place on 15 June 2022 from Hamburg; entry into service was pushed back to 2024 to address certification requirements.


Airbus Corporate Jets

Two
Airbus Corporate Jets Airbus Corporate Jets, a business unit of Airbus SAS and part of Airbus, markets and completes corporate jet variants from the parent's airliner range. Types include the A318 Elite to the double/triple-decked Airbus A380 Prestige. Following t ...
variants are offered: the ACJ319neo, carrying eight passengers up to , and the ACJ320neo, carrying 25 up to . The CFM LEAP or Pratt & Whitney PW1100G lower fuel-burn provides additional
range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...
along with lower engine noise while the
cabin altitude Cabin pressurization is a process in which conditioned air is pumped into the cabin of an aircraft or spacecraft in order to create a safe and comfortable environment for passengers and crew flying at high altitudes. For aircraft, this air is u ...
does not exceed . To increase its fuel capacity, the ACJ319neo is offered with up to five additional centre
tanks A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...
(ACT). The first ACJ320neo was delivered in January 2019, with deliveries of the ACJ319neo expected to start a few months later. On 25 April 2019, the ACJ319neo, outfitted with five ACTs, completed its first flight, before a short test campaign and subsequent delivery to German K5 Aviation. The following day, the aircraft completed an endurance test flight lasting 16 hours and 10 minutes and setting a record for the longest A320-family flight by an Airbus crew.


Operators

, 2,341 A320neo family aircraft were in service with 127 operators, 85 of which use CFM engines, and 42 PW engines. The five largest operators were IndiGo operating 212, China Southern Airlines 95, Frontier Airlines 78,
China Eastern Airlines China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited (), also known as China Eastern, is an airline headquartered in the China Eastern Airlines Building, on the grounds of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Changning District, Shanghai. It is ...
74 and
easyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...
58 airplanes.


Orders and deliveries

At the A320neo programme launch on 1 December 2010, Airbus anticipated "a market potential of 4,000 A320neo Family aircraft over the next 15 years". The six month head-start of the A320neo allowed Airbus to rack up 1,000 orders before Boeing announced the MAX. In less than a year, by the November 2011 Dubai Airshow, the family had reached 1,420 orders and commitments, making it the "fastest selling aircraft ever". By March 2013, a little over two years after launch, It had received 2,000 orders. At the first jet delivery in January 2016, the family had received almost 4,500 orders from nearly 80 customers. it had 5,052 orders : 49 A319neos (%), 3,617 A320neos (%) and 1,386 A321neos (%), with 1,712 of them powered by CFM LEAPs (%), 1,429 by PW GTFs (%) and 1,911 undisclosed (%). By December 2021, as many orders migrated to the larger A321neo, it became the most popular variant with 3,958 orders compared to 3,748 orders for the A320neo, while the previous A321 achieved a third of the A320 family orders. , a total of 8,502 A320neo family aircraft had been ordered by 130 customers, of which 2,341 aircraft had been delivered. ; 2011 In early January 2011, IndiGo reached a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for 150 A320neos along 30 A320ceos. On 17 January, Virgin America became the launch customer, ordering 60 A320s including 30 A320neos. At the June 2011 Paris Air Show, it gathered 667 commitments worth US$60.9 billion, raising the backlog to 1,029. Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia ordered 200, the largest commercial aviation order at the time. IndiGo confirmed its 150 order. Airbus received orders from GECAS, Scandinavian Airlines,
TransAsia Airways TransAsia Airways (TNA, until January 1992 known by its Chinese-translated name Foshing Airlines;For historical pictures with "Foshing Airlines" on it, see: ) was a Taiwanese airline based in Neihu District in Taipei. Though the company starte ...
, IndiGo,
LAN Airlines LATAM Airlines Chile (formerly LAN Airlines and LAN-Chile) is an airline based in Santiago, Chile, one of the founders of LATAM Airlines Group, Latin America's largest airline holding company. The main hub is Arturo Merino Benítez Internationa ...
, AirAsia,
GoAir Go First, founded as GoAir, is an Indian ultra-low-cost airline based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is owned by the Indian business conglomerate Wadia Group. In October 2017, it was the fifth largest airline in India with an 8.4% passenger ma ...
, Air Lease Corporation and Avianca. On 20 July 2011, American Airlines announced an order for 460 narrowbody jets including 130 A320ceos and 130 A320neos, and intended to order 100 re-engined 737 with CFM LEAPs, pending Boeing confirmation. The order broke Boeing's monopoly with the airline and forced Boeing into the re-engined 737 MAX. As this sale included a Most-Favoured-Customer Clause, the European airframer must refund any price difference to American if it sells to another airline at a lower price. As a result,
Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
was unable to offer the A320neo at a price which United Airlines deemed "competitive", leaving it with a Boeing-skewed fleet. On 27 July 2011, Lufthansa ordered 25 A320neos and 5 A321neos. The November Dubai Airshow saw a further 130 orders, raising the total to 1,420 orders and commitments, making it the fastest selling aircraft ever. ; 2012 On 25 January,
Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...
and Airbus confirmed an order of 100 A320neos. In November, Virgin America deferred the deliveries of the A320neo aircraft until 2020, making ILFC the new launch customer along with the A321neo. In December 2012
Pegasus Airlines Pegasus Airlines ( tr, Pegasus Hava Taşımacılığı A.Ş.) (), sometimes stylized as Flypgs, is a Turkish low-cost carrier headquartered in the Kurtköy area of Pendik, Istanbul with bases at several Turkish airports. History On 1 Dece ...
, the second largest airline in Turkey, signed a deal for up to 100 A320neo family aircraft, of which 75 (57 A320neo and 18 A321neo models) are firm orders. ; 2013 Lufthansa ordered an additional 70 A320neo and A321neo aircraft on 14 March 2013. easyJet, who already operates 195 A320ceo family aircraft, intends to acquire 100 Airbus A320neo for delivery between 2017 and 2022. As part of the deal, easyJet have options on a further 100 A320neo aircraft, and the Japanese carrier ANA is to order the A320neo and A321neo.
Lion Air PT Lion Mentari Airlines, operating as Lion Air, is an Indonesian low-cost airline. Based in Jakarta, Lion Air is the country's largest privately run airline, the second largest low-cost airline in Southeast Asia (after AirAsia) and the large ...
ordered 183. On 15 March 2013,
Turkish Airlines Turkish Airlines ( Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları'') is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the w ...
ordered 82 A320s with 35 options including four A320neo and 53 A321neo. ; 2014 On 15 October 2014 IndiGo signed a MoU with Airbus for purchasing 250 A320neo family aircraft. The deal would be worth over $25.5 billion as per the list price per aircraft. This order will also be the largest by the airline, marking the largest number of jets ever sold by the European planemaker in a single order. The airline had earlier ordered 100 aircraft in 2005 and another 180 aircraft in 2011. ; 2017 On 15 November 2017 Airbus announced the signing of a MoU with Indigo Partners' four portfolio airlines for 430 A320neo family aircraft – a deal worth nearly $50 billion. On 14 December 2017
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...
announced an order for 100 A321neo aircraft and 100 options, powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1100Gs. ; 2018 By September 2018, Airbus should deliver 3,174 A320neos compared with 2,999 Boeing 737 MAX through 2022. A320neo-family maintenance should rise from $650 million in 2018 to $3.3 billion in 2022. ; 2019 On 29 October 2019, IndiGo placed a firm order for 300 A320neo Family aircraft, marking one of Airbus' largest aircraft orders ever with a single airline operator. The order comprised a mix of A320neo, A321neo and A321XLR aircraft. This takes IndiGo's total number of A320neo Family aircraft orders to 730. On 18 November 2019, the low cost carrier Air Arabia ordered 120 A320neo family jets worth $14 billion at list prices: 70 A320neos and 50 A321neos/XLRs, to be delivered from 2024.


Accidents and incidents

The A320neo family has had 4 ground fatalities and 1
hull loss A hull loss is an aviation accident that catastrophically damages the aircraft beyond economical repair, resulting in a total loss. The term also applies to situations in which the aircraft is missing, the search for their wreckage is terminate ...
accidents An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researche ...
. In September 2022, a
TAP Air Portugal TAP Air Portugal is the currently state-owned flag carrier airline of Portugal, headquartered at Lisbon Airport which also serves as its hub. TAP – Transportes Aéreos Portugueses – has been a member of the Star Alliance since 2005 and oper ...
Airbus A320neo operating flight TP1492 from Lisbon to
Conakry International Airport Conakry (; ; sus, Kɔnakiri; N’ko: ߞߐߣߊߞߙߌ߫, Fula: ''Konaakiri'' 𞤑𞤮𞤲𞤢𞥄𞤳𞤭𞤪𞤭) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its po ...
hit a motorbike during landing. Both occupants of the motorbike were killed and the aircraft received damage to its right engine. One rider of the motorbike was identified as the airport's security guard. On 18 November 2022, a
LATAM Perú LATAM Airlines Perú (formerly LAN Perú S.A.) is an airline based in Lima, Peru. It is a subsidiary of LATAM Airlines Group, which owns 49% of the airline and flag carrier of Peru. It operates scheduled domestic and international services. Its ...
Airbus A320neo taking off from
Jorge Chávez International Airport Jorge Chávez International Airport (Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez) is Peru's main international and domestic airport. It is located in Callao, northwest from Lima Center, the nation's capital city and from the district of Miraf ...
as Flight 2213 to Juliaca collided with a fire engine that was crossing the runway during a training exercise, killing two firefighters and injuring a third. All 102 passengers and 6 crew aboard escaped unharmed. The aircraft was reportedly written off.


Specifications

Notes


Engines

Note: 100 daN = 1 kN


See also


References


External links

* * {{Airbus A3xx timeline
A320neo The Airbus A320neo family is a development of the A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus. The A320neo family (''neo'' for "new engine option") is based on the previous A319, A320 and A321 ( enhanced variant), which was then ren ...
Twinjets Airbus A320 family 2010s international airliners Aircraft first flown in 2014