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Airbus A220 arrives in Yellowknife for cold-weather testing

Last updated: January 13, 2020 at 8:09amOLLIE WILLIAMS


Whoever plans the Airbus testing program knows their long-range weather forecasts. One of the world's newest regional jet airliners landed in Yellowknife on Sunday ahead of a series of cold-weather tests.

A photo posted online by Buffalo Airways' Mikey McBryan shows an Airbus A-220 in Yellowknife in January 2020.image.thumb.png.90b51f550322abb7f218ca2d86da4bd3.png

An Airbus A220-300 arrived in the NWT's capital as residents endured their second extended spell of bitterly cold weather in a month. Temperatures barely crept above -40C as the plane reached Yellowknife on Sunday, and are not expected to exceed -30C for the remainder of the week.

Details of the testing program are not known. Cabin Radio has approached Airbus Canada Limited Partnership, which runs development of the A220, for information.

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The partnership, headquartered in Québec, includes Airbus alongside Bombardier. The A220-300 was previously known as the Bombardier CS300 until Airbus acquired a majority stake in the program two years ago.

The City of Yellowknife and territorial government have been increasing their efforts to market the city as a cold-weather testing hub. Airbus' helicopter manufacturing division carried out similar tests in Yellowknife five years ago, while Bell Helicopters praised the city after a more recent visit.

Recent footage of Air Canada's newly delivered Airbus A220-300 in Calgary.

The A220-300, which ordinarily seats 120 to 150 passengers, has been operational since December 2016. Air Canada has 44 of the aircraft on order and one already in service.

With the Boeing 737 Max still grounded following two crashes that between them caused 346 deaths, and production of those jets now suspended, Airbus has been marketing the A220 as the aircraft to fill that gap.

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"It’s too cold to paint it green," joked Buffalo Airways' Mikey McBryan online – referring to his airline's signature colour – as the A220 was marshalled to a stand at Buffalo's Yellowknife facility on Sunday.

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Interesting rumours by FleigerFaust that Airbus is advancing work on A220 stretches - lots of guesswork on his part, but not surprising if any of it is true. A CS500 may not be too far off, and I bet AC would be interested in telling Boeing to FU about some of those 737-9s not yet built. An A220-500 might not be big enough to bump a Max-9, but an A220-700?

 

https://www.fliegerfaust.com

 

Thinly based speculation at present.

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There was speculation from the start that it would eventually be stretched if there was a demand.  Seems like Boeing created the demand for them.  Airbus would be stupid not to pursue it. Quickly...

 

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12 hours ago, dagger said:

Interesting rumours by FleigerFaust that Airbus is advancing work on A220 stretches - lots of guesswork on his part, but not surprising if any of it is true. A CS500 may not be too far off, and I bet AC would be interested in telling Boeing to FU about some of those 737-9s not yet built. An A220-500 might not be big enough to bump a Max-9, but an A220-700?

 

https://www.fliegerfaust.com

 

Thinly based speculation at present.

The A319 NEO hasn't been selling as much as anticipated... Wikipedia is showing 37 orders for the short Airbus. It might make sense to give the green light to the A220-500. It will be a more efficient aircraft and wont cannibalize non existent 319 sales.

 

 

 

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On 1/15/2020 at 6:55 AM, mrlupin said:

The A319 NEO hasn't been selling as much as anticipated... Wikipedia is showing 37 orders for the short Airbus. It might make sense to give the green light to the A220-500. It will be a more efficient aircraft and wont cannibalize non existent 319 sales.

 

 

The A220 at AC seats more than the mainline 319 and about equal to the Rouge config.  It already is cannibalizing 319 Neo/737 Max 7 sales.  The 220-500 would be about the size of a 320 Neo/Max-8.

Truth be told the 318 and 737-6 were dropped from Max and Neo offerings because their economics made them uncompetitive. Even the 319 Neo/Max 7 has been  struggling in sales against Max 8/9 and Neo 320/321.  This efficiency gap was what Bombardier was trying to target with the CS-100/A220-100/300.  And what made them such a threat to Airbus and Boeing.

An A220-500 will eat into 320 sales if produced.  But does that matter to Airbus at this stage?  Someone else did the R&D on their next generation narrow body.  I can’t see the 220 ever competing with the 321Neo,  which currently I believe is the most efficient narrow body offering.

If I were Airbus I would upsize the 220-500 just slightly more than initially contemplated to compete directly with a Max8. At 5 across seating all they need is 5-6 more rows from the 220-300.

 

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Just to give you an idea, because yes I also was very surprised at how large the A220-300 actually is.

AC Mainline 319 120 seats

AC Rouge 319 132 seats.

AC Mainline A220-300 137 seats.

AC Mainline 320 146 seats

AC Mainline 737-8 169 seats

AC Mainline 321 190 seats

AC Rouge 321 200 seats.

 

5-6 extra rows in a A220-500 and it’s the size of a Max-8

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