MIRABEL, Canada — Airbus has celebrated the 100th A220 aircraft produced for a customer during a ceremony at the aircraft program’s headquarters here.The aircraft, an A220-300, destined for Riga, Latvia-based airBaltic, features a cabin layout with 149 seats plus modernized livery.
The A220 family is assembled at Airbus’ main Final Assembly Line in Mirabel and more recently, also at the program’s second assembly line in Mobile, Alabama. The world’s first A220, formerly called the C Series) was delivered in June 2016 to A220-100 launch operator SWISS.
airBaltic became the A220-300 launch operator when the Latvian airline received delivery of the first ever A220-300 three years ago, on Nov. 28, 2016. airBaltic has since re-ordered A220-300 aircraft twice – bringing its firm order to 50 aircraft – to become the current biggest European A220 customer. The airline now operates a fleet of 20 A220-300 aircraft.
airBaltic has an all-A220 fleet operating to various European and Russian destinations as well as to the Middle East. It currently operates the longest flight on an A220, a 6.5-hour flight from Riga to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The A220 is purpose-built for the 100-to-150 seat market to deliver fuel efficiency and widebody passenger comfort in a single-aisle aircraft. The A220 brings together state-of-the-art aerodynamics, advanced materials and Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines to offer at least 20 percent lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft, along with significantly lower emissions and a reduced noise footprint.
Close to 100 A220s are flying with six operators on four continents. At the end of October 2019, the aircraft had received 530 firm orders from more than 20 customers worldwide.