AirAsia X’s selection of the high-density version of the Airbus A220-300 makes it the launch customer of this variant. But the 160-seater isn’t by any means new within the program. Bombardier had been working on it when the plane was still known as CSeries. Airbus announced at a pre-Paris Airshow media conference last year that it was starting the certification work on the 160-seater, aiming for certification in 2027. Back then, Airbus said it was pursuing the concept following “significant market interest”. The AirAsia X order was already underway by mid-2025. The A220-300 is currently certified for 149 seats. Getting in another 11 seats comes at the expense of the pitch, which will be reduced from 32 to 28 inches. That means Airbus is sacrificing one of the A220's key characteristics. It brings it into the same league as Ryanair’s Boeing MAX 8200. Which is not to everyone’s liking… When Bombardier studied the 160-seater, it still came with a single overwing emergency exit door on each side of the fuselage. The A220-300 will get two on each side. “The current A220-300 airframe was already designed to accommodate a second over-wing exit, anticipating the need for future seating capacity increases to the platform. We are now bringing this to fruition”, an Airbus Canada spokesperson told the author last year. The capacity increase comes without additional changes to the aircraft. “There are no further expected evolutions to the A220-300’s design weights or engine ratings linked to the 160-seat development.” At the same time, Airbus is offering a higher Maximum Zero-Fuel Weight and Maximum Landing Weight. Inside the aircraft, the A220 will get the Airspace cabin with XL luggage bins and new lighting. Air Canada is the launch customer for this variant. In a stock exchange filing, AirAsia X justified the A220 order: "As the next-generation successor to the A320ceo, the A220 Aircraft's 160-seat configuration provides a "right-sized" solution that enables the Group to match capacity precisely with demand across its multi-gauge fleet." The airline also evaluated the Embraer E195-E2 but preferred the A220. “Le stretch” The A220-300 order from AirAsia X could very well accelerate the launch of the A220-500 with 185 seats, referred to by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as “Le Stretch”. Tony Fernandes made it clear that he will order the -500 when Airbus is ready to launch it. “We really hope that you will build the larger version. That is the aircraft we really want. You have to move on. We are committed: when you build that aircraft, AirAsia will buy another 150 of these aircraft”, Fernandes said on Wednesday during the signing ceremony in Mirabel. His promise was met with loud cheers from the Airbus Canada staff. Fernades added: “No pressure, lads, no pressure.” He knows that Airbus is taking its time on the -500, as stabilising the production of the slow-selling -100 and -300 has priority. Lower-than-expected sales, supply chain problems, and the peculiarities of the former Bombardier assembly line compared with Airbus's have kept the business case for the A220 under pressure. In other words, the program is still loss-making. [caption id="attachment_192161" align="aligncenter" width="746"] Airbus A220-300[/caption] Production Ramping up production was seen as the solution, but the lack of orders made this troublesome. Customers were discouraged by the durability issues with the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engines. Airbus won only 44 net orders last year for the A220, of which 40 were from LOT Polish Airlines. Further integrating the work packages that Airbus bought from Spirit AeroSystems last year will require more time to stabilise the program. That’s one reason the rate increase has been pushed to the right: instead of reaching 14 a month in 2026, it will now reach 13 a month in 2028. Group CEO Guillaume Faury said on April 28 during the Q1 earnings call that it remains a matter of “when,” not “if,” Airbus will launch the A220-500, but that a bit more time is needed. Airbus Canada CEO Guillaume Chevasson said that Airbus is in discussion with the government of Quebec to secure financial support for the A220-500. This would come on top of the $2.1 billion that Quebec, through Investissement Quebec, has invested in the CSeries and A220 since 2016. Earlier this year, a report said that the fair value of this investment had dropped to zero, but thanks to the LOT Polish and AirAsia X orders, IQ could hope to recoup at least part of its investment. Chevasson is confident that the road to profitability for the A220 is “just a few miles away” in the next few years. The AirAsia X order is a “vote of confidence” that will help it get there. Deliveries of the 150 A220s to AirAsia X on firm order plus the 150 options would stretch from 2028 through 2039, securing jobs in Canada and at suppliers in other countries.
