A potential substitute for the A320 and competitor to the Boeing 737 MAX will not be launched by Airbus, at least for now. Bank of America analysts stated earlier that the European company would be preparing to launch the so-called A220-500 next month at the Le Bourget Salon (Paris Air Show), the sector’s largest fair.
However, hours later, Airbus debunked this analysis in response to queries made by Reuters, indicating that the current problems in the production chain and an unstable market do not provide an ideal environment for the aircraft’s launch.
«The A220-100 and A220-300 are our priority now and we are not planning to launch a new variant in the current scenario,» the company stated in an official release.
The A220-500 jet would be an aircraft for 150 to 160 passengers, competing directly with the A319neo and even the A320neo from the same manufacturer, but also with the 737 MAX 7 and MAX 8.
As reported by Aeroin, it would be the first time that Airbus proceeds with an aircraft that was not launched by them, but by Bombardier, where they were born as the CSeries CS100 and CS300, respectively, and are now the A220-100 and A220-300.
A decision on a new single-aisle aircraft in the A320 category is expected to occur within this decade, naturally emerging first from Airbus given Boeing’s recent issues, who has yet to certify the 737 MAX 7 and MAX 10.
