Modern aviation in the past few years has accelerated its move towards fuel efficient operations. To achieve this goal many airlines are now operating many flights with narrow body, single aisle, high efficiency planes. This means the market for this type of plane is more alive now than ever before. In this lively market segment the Airbus A220 is making itself noticed and has been adopted by many carriers around the world. Let’s find out a bit more about it and which airlines are the biggest operators of the Airbus A220.
Which Airlines Use The Most Airbus A220?
With deliveries still ongoing the list of airlines that operate this remarkable aircraft type is destined to grow. However as of the 19th of December 2022 15 operators fly the Airbus A220:
- 58 Delta Air Lines (United States)
- 38 Air Baltic (Latvia)
- 31 Air Canada (Canada)
- 30 Swiss (Switzerland)
- 15 Air France (France)
- 12 EgyptAir (Egypt)
- 12 JetBlue Airways (United States)
- 10 Breeze Airways (United States)
- 10 Korean Air (South Korea)
- 4 Air Tanzania (Tanzania)
- 4 ITA Airways (Italy)
- 3 Air Austral (Reunion)
- 2 Iraqi Airways (Iraq)
- 1 Air Manas (Kyrghizistan)
- 1 Air Senegal (Senegal)
- 1 Bulgaria Air (Bulgaria)
Specifically, airBaltic now operates an all A220 fleet. As we’ll later see the airliners offers great operational flexibility especially on medium/short haul flights.
A Little About the Aircraft
Not everyone knows that the Airbus A220 was not originally developed by the European manufacturer. The story of the A220 starts under a different name CS100/CS300. Where the CS100 corresponds to the A220-100 and the CS300 to the A220-300.
Canadian manufacturer Bombardier developed and built this remarkable little aircraft. Only later upon encountering difficulties in selling its CS100 and CS300 abroad did Bombardier find itself forced in joining hands with Airbus. This is when the official name of the plane changed from CS100/CS300 to the A220-100 and A220-300.
Eventually Bombardier completely sold its shares in the project and it now a joint venture between the government of Quebec and Airbus.
| A220-100 | A220-300 | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 35m | 38.7m |
| Fuselage Width | 3.5m | 3.5m |
| Cabin Width | 3.28m | 3.28m |
| Wingspan | 35.1m | 35.1m |
| Cruise Speed | M0.78 | M0.78 |
| Range | 6,390Km | 6,297Km |
| Fuel Capacity | 21,805l | 21,508l |
| Max Take-off Weight | 63.1t | 70.9t |
| Max Landing Weight | 54.2t | 60.6t |
The size and performance characteristics make it an appealing aircraft for a number of airlines around the world. The aircraft is constructed using in parts of it composite materials. This allowed the developers to integrate wider windows and and grant the aircraft greater range.
Although its maximum capacity is often under 150 passengers, with a 2 class configuration, the A220 is capable of flying quite long sectors of over 6,000 km. In many cases this smaller Airbus allows to operate profitable flights to smaller airfield with lower demand.
As a passenger flying this particular plane is a very pleasant experience. Although it is a narrow body plane the cabin feels roomy and the 3-2 economy layout is very comfortable.
