Airbus A220, the plane that is revolutionizing short-haul air transport
If it were a living being, the history of what was originally called CSeries and is now called A220 [...]
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If it were a living being, the story of what was originally called CSeries and is now called A220 would surely be told in a Netflix series, instead we have to settle for a few episodes on the Discovery Channel.
The project was conceived by Canada's Bormbardier (which also went bankrupt because of this crazy idea) and then passed to Airbus, which was able to turn the CSeries into an aircraft destined to go down in commercial aviation history on par with the 747, A380 and 737.
Even before the Covid-19 outbreak, the aircraft produced in Canada and the United States was an incredible best seller, as it has no competitors in terms of its capacity, namely that of 100-110 seats.
But let's take a step back, Bombardier trasportation Canadian giant that produces trains (the Frecciarossa 1000 for example) and jets for VIPs, as well as products for the military and much more, decides to go to war with the duopoly of the skies formed by Boeing and Airbus.
To do so, he designs from scratch a new type of aircraft by going into an unmanned space, that of jets capable of carrying 100 to 120 people with a range of more than 6,000 kilometers, enough to cover all major intra-European routes and transcontinental routes such as New York - Los Angeles.
The Cseries 300, which entered service in 2013, did not immediately convince airlines. It was precisely the marketing difficulties that were one of the causes that led first to the partnership and then to the final sale of the project and the entire civil aerospace division by Bombardier to Airbus with the subsequent name change to A220.
Among the first companies to bet on the Cseries are ìtwo European companies, first among them Air Baltic. The Latvian airline was the launch customer, that is, the first to receive this aircraft, followed by Swiss Air and American Delta.
The first difference you notice when you board this plane is the seating arrangement, which is not symmetrical as on all other planes, in fact we find 2 seats on the right and three on the left.
But how do you fly on the A220?
Made with a composite fuselage and propelled by two state-of-the-art engines, the A220 provides great economy and due to its small size is ideal for airlines focusing on both hub feeder strategies, such as Swiss and Delta, and on Low Cost with point-to-point routes.
Over the years I have had the opportunity to fly often on both Airbaltic's and Swiss's versions, and I must say that the A220 is a very quiet aircraft, with very spacious portholes and considerable space in the overhead compartments.
Have you also flown this aircraft? Leave your opinion in the comments.
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