Airbus to invest up to €1 billion in A220 programme this year

Airbus will invest between €500 million and €1 billion this year in the A220 programme, Guillaume Faury has said. The comments from the company CEO were made last Thursday at the company’s A220 factory in Mirabel.

Earlier this month, the aerospace giant raised its stake in the programme to 75% from 50.1% after teaming up with the government of the Canadian province of Quebec to buy Bombardier’s 33.5% stake.

The deal has meant Bombardier has left the civil aviation industry and Airbus has bolstered position in its competition with US rival Boeing.

The A220, previously known as the CSeries, is a 110-130 seater aircraft, a little smaller than Airbus’s mainstay A320 jet.

This new agreement underlines the commitment of Airbus and the Government of Québec to the A220 programme during this phase of continuous ramp-up and increasing customer demand.

Since Airbus took majority ownership of the A220 programme on 1^st July 2018, total cumulative net orders for the aircraft have increased by 64% to 658 units at the end of January 2020.

The single aisle market is a key growth driver, representing 70 percent of the expected global future demand for aircraft. Ranging from 100 to 150 seats, the A220 is highly complementary to Airbus’ existing single aisle aircraft portfolio, which focuses on the higher end of the single-aisle business (150-240 seats).

At the end of January 2020, 107 A220 aircraft were flying with seven customers on four continents. In 2019 alone, Airbus delivered 48 A220s, with the further ramp-up to be continued.

www.airbus.com