Blog 44: 7/22/23: the Legendary Airbus A320-NEO & the A320 Family, the Ultimate 737 and 737-MAX Competition
First Flight of the Airbus A320neo, Toulouse, France - headquarters of Airbus
Welcome back to Brooke In The Air! Last week, we analyzed the 737-MAX and it's atrocious failures that cost nearly 400 innocent lives, so it's only fitting that we cover the Boeing aircraft’s main competition, the arguably more impressive and far safer Airbus A320-NEO.
The Airbus A320-NEO family is a development of the A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus. The A320-NEO family (neo being Greek for "new", as well as an initialism for "new engine option") is based on the previous A319, A320, and A321 (enhanced variant), which was then renamed A320-CEO, for "current engine option.”
A320-NEO COMPOSITION
CFM-International 1-B “LEAP” Engines on the A320-NEO
Re-engined with CFM LEAP (much like the MAX engines) or Pratt & Whitney GTF engines as an engine choice, the NEO, of, New Engine Option, is designed to compete with the 737-MAX, and fitted with sharklets (the Airbus equivalent of Boeing's Winglets) as standard, it is 15% to 20% more fuel efficient than prior models, retroactively renamed the A320-CEO. It was launched on 1st of December, 2010, made its first flight on 25th of September in 2014 and was introduced by launch customer Lufthansa on 25th of January in 2016.
By 2019, the A320-NEO had a 60% market share against the competing Boeing 737-MAX. As of June 2023, a total of 9,568 A320-NEO family aircraft had been ordered by more than 130 customers, of which 2,848 aircraft had been delivered.
The global A320-NEO fleet had completed more than 5.51 million flights over 11 million block hours with one hull loss being an airport-safety related or non-aeronautical accident. An infinitely superior safety record as opposed to the 737-MAX.
Airbus launched the sharklet blended wingtip device during the November 2009 Dubai Airshow. The installation adds 200 kilograms but offers a 3.5% fuel burn reduction on flights over 1,500 nmi (nautical miles).
Airbus planned to offer two engine choices with the NEO, the CFM International LEAP-1A and the Pratt & Whitney GTF (PW1100G), with 20% lower maintenance cost than current A320 engines. The new engines burn 16% less fuel, though the actual gain is slightly less as 1–2% is typically lost when installed on an existing aircraft.
Close up of the Pratt & Whitney “PurePower” PW1100G-JM Engine, the troubling engine option.
The Airbus A320 family was originally conceived as a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus to compete with the Boeing 737-NG, or Next Generation, the -700, -800, and -900. The A320 family was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France.
The first member of the family was followed by the longer A321 (first delivered in January 1994), the shorter A319 (delivered in April of 1996), and the even shorter A318 (delivered in July of 2003). Final assembly takes place in Toulouse in France; Hamburg in Germany; Tianjin in China since 2009; and in Mobile, Alabama in the United States since April 2016.
The twinjet has a six-abreast seat cross-section and came with either CFM56 or IAE V2500 turbofan engines, except the CFM56/PW6000 powered A318 jetliner. The family pioneered the use of digital fly-by-wire and side-stick flight controls in airliners. Variants offer maximum take-off weights from 68 to 93.5 tonnes to cover a 3,100–3,750 nmi range. The 31.4 m (103 ft) long A318 typically accommodates 107 to 132 passengers. The 124-156 seat A319 is 33.8 m (111 ft) long. The A320 is 37.6 m (123 ft) long and can accommodate 150 to 186 passengers. There is also a swanky Corporate Jet (Airbus’ Business Jet answer to Boeing’s equivalent) variant.
American Airlines is the largest A320ceo and neo operator worldwide with 469 aircraft in its fleet. In October 2019, the A320 family surpassed the Boeing 737 to become the highest- and best-selling airliner. As of June 2023, a total of 17,688 A320s had been ordered and 10,948 delivered, of which 10,256 aircraft were in service with more than 340 operators. The global A320 fleet had completed more than 164 million flights over 303 million block hours since its entry into service. The A320-CEO initially competed with the 737 Classic and the MD-80, then their successors, the 737-NG, or Next Generation, and the MD-90, while the 737-MAX is of course Boeing's response to the A320-NEO, and the MAX is failing to achieve orders and thus, sales.
BIRTH & ORIGIN: THE ORIGINAL A320
When Airbus designed the A300 during the late 1960s and early 1970s, it envisaged a broad family of airliners with which to compete against Boeing and Douglas (later McDonnell Douglas), two established US aerospace manufacturers. From the moment of formation, Airbus had begun studies into derivatives of the Airbus A300B in support of this long-term goal.
One of the launch customers of the shrunken A320, the A319, SWISSAIR, later went into bankruptcy with remaining assets sold to Lufthansa who in turn created Swiss Air International Airlines.
Prior to the service introduction of the first Airbus airliners, engineers within Airbus had identified nine possible variations of the A300 known as A300B1 to B9. A 10th variation, conceived in 1973, later the first to be constructed, was designated the A300B10. It was a smaller aircraft which would be developed into the long-range Airbus A310. Airbus then focused its efforts on the single-aisle market, which was dominated by the 737 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9.
Plans from a number of European aircraft manufacturers called for a successor to the relatively successful BAC One-Eleven, and to replace the 737-200 and DC-9. Germany's MBB (Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm, the West German post-war end result of Messerschmitt merging with Blohm in order to survive), British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), Sweden's Saab and Spain's CASA worked on the EUROPLANE, a 180- to 200-seat aircraft. It was abandoned after intruding on A310 specifications. VFW-Fokker, Dornier and Hawker Siddeley worked on a number of 150-seat designs.
In June of 1977, a new Joint European Transport (JET) programme was set up, established by British Aerospace (BAe), Aerospatiale, Dornier and Fokker. It was based at the then BAe (formerly Vickers) site in Weybridge, Surrey, UK. Although the members were all of Airbus' partners, they regarded the project as a separate collaboration from Airbus. This project was considered the forerunner of Airbus A320, encompassing the 130- to 188-seat market, powered by two CFM56s. It would have a cruise speed of Mach 0.84 (faster than the Boeing 737). The programme was later transferred to Airbus, leading up to the creation of the Single-Aisle (SA) studies in 1980, led by former leader of the JET programme, Derek Brown.
The group looked at three different variants, covering the 125- to 180-seat market, called SA1, SA2 and SA3. Although unaware at the time, the consortium was producing the blueprints for the A319, A320 and A321, respectively.
The single-aisle program created divisions within Airbus about whether to design a shorter-range twinjet rather than a longer-range quadjet wanted by the West Germans, particularly Lufthansa. However, works proceeded apace, and the German carrier would eventually order the twinjet.
For context, the design within the JET study that was carried forward was the JET2 (163 passengers), which then became the Airbus S.A1/2/3 series (Single Aisle), before settling on the A320 name for its launch in 1984. Previously, Hawker Siddeley had produced a design called the HS.134 "Airbus" in 1965, an evolution of the HS.121 (formerly DH.121) Trident, which shared much of the general arrangement of the later JET3 study design.
In February 1981 the project was officially re-designated A320, with efforts focused on the blueprint formerly designated SA2. During the year, Airbus worked with Delta Air Lines on a 150-seat aircraft envisioned and required by the airline. The original A320 would carry 150 passengers over 1,860 nmi using fuel from wing fuel tanks only. The -200 had the center tank activated, increasing fuel capacity from 15,590 to 23,430 liters. They would measure 36.04 and 39.24 m, respectively. Airbus considered a fuselage diameter of "the Boeing 707 and 727, or do something better" and settled on a wider cross-section with a 3.7 m internal width, compared to Boeing's 3.45 m. Although heavier, this allowed the A320 to compete more effectively with the 737. The A320 wing segment went through several design stages, eventually measuring 33.91 meters.
STARTING SERVICE: THE A320
National shares, the airline group-party
The UK, France and West Germany wanted responsibility over final assembly and its associated work, known as "work-share arguments". The Germans requested an increased work-share of 40%, while the British wanted the major responsibilities to be swapped around to give partners production and research and development experience. In the end, British work-share was increased from that of the two previous Airbuses.
France was willing to commit to launch aid, or subsidies, while the Germans were more cautious. The UK government was unwilling to provide funding for the tooling, requested by BAe and estimated at £250 million GBP; it was postponed for three years. On 1st of March, 1984, the British government and BAe agreed that £50 million GBP would be paid, whether the A320 flew or not, while the rest would be paid as a levy on each aircraft sold. In 1984, the program cost was then estimated at £2 billion GBP ($2.8 billion USD) by Flight International, equivalent to £7 billion GBP today.
LAUNCHING THE LEGEND
The program was formally launched on 2nd of March, 1984. At the time, Airbus had just 96 aircraft orders. Air France was Airbus’ first customer to sign a "letter of intent" for 25 A320s and options for 25 more at the 1981 Paris Air Show. In October 1983, British Caledonian (now defunct) placed seven firm orders, bringing total orders to more than 80. Cyprus Airways became the first customer to place an order for V2500-powered A320s in November 1984, followed by Pan Am with 16 firm orders and 34 options in January 1985, and then Inex Adria. One of the most significant orders occurred when Northwest Airlines (now merged with Delta) placed an order for 100 A320s in October of 1986, powered by CFM56 engines.
During initial A320 development, Airbus considered propfan technology, which was backed by Lufthansa. At the time unproven, the technology essentially consisted of a fan placed outside the engine nacelle, offering turbofan speeds and turboprop economics; ultimately, Airbus stuck with the more conventional and proven turbofans.
Airbus A320 in service with Lufthansa
Power on the A320 was to be entirely supplied by two CFM International CFM56-5-A1s rated at 25,000 lbf. It was the only engine available until the arrival of the IAE V2500, offered by International Aero Engines, a group composed of Rolls-Royce plc, Pratt & Whitney, Japanese Aero Engine Corporation, Fiat and MTU. The first V2500 variant, the V2500-A1, has a thrust output of 25,000 pounds-force (110 kN), hence the name. It is 4% more efficient than the CFM56, with cruise thrust-specific fuel consumption for the -A5 at 0.574 and 0.596 lbf/h for the CFM56-5A1.
In the presence of then-French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac and the Prince (Now King Charles) and Princess (Diana) of Wales, the first A320 was rolled out of the final assembly line at Toulouse on the 14th of February, 1987 - valetine’s day in the US - and made its maiden flight on the 22nd of February, a week after it's rollout, in 3 hours and 23 minutes. The flight test program took 1,200 hours over 530 flights. European Joint Aviation Authorities (EJAA) certification was awarded on 26th of February, 1988, a year later. The first A320 was delivered to French flag carrier Air France on 28 March, and began commercial service on 8 April with a flight between Paris and Berlin via Düsseldorf. In 1988, the clean-sheet aircraft program cost was 5.486 billion French francs, as this was before the E.U. was formed and the Euro came into usage.
THE STRETCH
The first derivative of the A320 was the Airbus A321, also known as the Stretched A320, A320-500 and A325. Its launch came on 24 November 1988 after commitments for 183 aircraft from 10 customers were secured. The aircraft was to be a minimally changed derivative, apart from minor wing modifications and the fuselage stretch itself. The wing would incorporate double-slotted flaps and minor trailing edge modifications, increasing wing area from 124 m2 to 128 m2. The fuselage was lengthened by four plugs (two ahead and two behind the wings), making the A321 6.94 meters longer than the A320 overall. The length increase required enlarged overwing exits, which were repositioned in front of and behind the wings. The center fuselage and undercarriage were reinforced to accommodate an increase in maximum takeoff weight of 9,600 kg, for a total of 83,000 kg.
Final assembly for the A321 would be, as a first for any Airbus, carried out in Germany (then West Germany during the Cold War). This came after a dispute between the French, who claimed the move would incur $150 million (€135 million) in unnecessary expenditures associated with the new plant, and the Germans, who argued that it would be more productive for Airbus in the long run. The second production line was located at Hamburg, which would also subsequently produce the smaller Airbus A319 and A318. For the first time, Airbus entered the bond market, through which it raised $480 million (€475 million) to finance development costs. An additional $180 million (€175 million) was borrowed from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and private investors.
The maiden flight of the Airbus A321 came on 11 March 1993, when the prototype, registration F-WWIA, flew with IAE V2500 engines; the second prototype, equipped with CFM56-5B turbofans, flew in May. Lufthansa and Alitalia were the first to order the stretched Airbuses, with 20 and 40 aircraft, respectively. The first of Lufthansa's V2500-A5-powered A321s arrived on 27 January 1994, while Alitalia received its first CFM56-5B-powered aircraft on 22 March.
SHRINKING
EasyJet low-cost airline, a primary customer of the shrunken A320 known as the A319, seen here taxiing.
The A319 was the following derivative of the baseline A320. The design was a "shrink", with its origins in the 130- to 140-seat SA1, part of the Single-Aisle studies, which had been shelved as the consortium focused on its bigger siblings. After healthy sales of the larger A320/A321, Airbus focused once more on what was then known as the A320M-7, meaning A320 minus seven fuselage frames. It would provide direct competition for the 737-300 / -700.
The shrinking was achieved through the removal of four fuselage frames fore and three aft of the wing, cutting the overall length by 3.73 meters while maintaining the overall design of the A320. Consequently, the number of overwing exits was reduced from four to two. The bulk-cargo door was replaced by an aft container door, which can take in reduced height LD3-45 containers. Minor software changes were made to accommodate the different handling characteristics; otherwise the aircraft was largely unchanged. Power is provided by the CFM56-5A, CFM56-5B, or V2500-A5, derated to 98 kN, with option for 105 kN of thrust.
Airbus began offering the new model from 22 May 1992, with the actual launch of the $275 million (€250 million) program occurring on 10 June 1993; the A319's first customer was ILFC, which signed for six aircraft.
ILFC, for context, the International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) was an aircraft lessor headquartered in Century City, Los Angeles, California, US. The company was acquired by international insurance giant American International Group (AIG), ironically, one of the antagonists of the 2008-09 financial crises, in 1990, although the unit was still run by Udvar-Hazy until he retired in February 2010, when he was succeeded by vice-chairman Alan Lund. Henri Courpron, a former Airbus executive, was appointed president and CEO of ILFC in May 2010. On December 16th of 2013, AIG announced they were selling its entire stake in ILFC to AerCap Holdings N.V.
On the 23rd of March, 1995, the first short A319 underwent final assembly at Airbus' German plant in Hamburg, where A321s were also assembled. It was rolled out on 24 August 1995, with the maiden flight taking place the following day. The certification programme took 350 airborne hours involving two aircraft. Certification for the CFM56-5B6/2-equipped variant was granted in April 1996, and qualification for the V2524-A5 started the following month.
Delivery of the first A319, to Swissair, occurred on 25th of April in 1996; it entered service by month's end. In January of 1997, an A319 broke a record during a delivery flight by flying the 3,588 nautical miles (6,645 km; 4,129 mi) great circle route to Winnipeg, Manitoba from Hamburg in 9 hours and 5 minutes.
The A319 has since proven popular with low-cost airlines such as EasyJet, which purchased 172 of them as well as Qantas-owned Low-Cost Carrier JetStar.
THE SECOND SHRINK PLUS FINANCING
Air France, flag carrier launch customer (as opposed to a low-cost carrier) of the tiny Airbus A318, seen here. The A318 is the smallest and least-produced A320 variant.
The A318 was born out of mid-1990 studies between Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), Singapore Technologies Aerospace (STA), Alenia and Airbus on a 95- to 125-seat aircraft project. The program was called the AE31X, and covered the 95-seat AE316 and 115- to 125-seat AE317. The former would have had an overall length of 31.3 m, while the AE317 was longer by 3.2 m, at 34.5 m. The engines were to be supplied from two Rolls-Royce BR715s, CFM56-9s, or the Pratt & Whitney PW6000; with the MTOW of 53.3 tons for the smaller version and 58 tons for the AE317, the thrust requirement were 77.9–84.6 kN and 84.6–91.2 kN, respectively. Range was settled at 2,800 nmi and 3,100 nmi for the high gross weights of both variants. Both share a wingspan of 31.0 m (101 ft 8 in) and a flight deck similar to that of the A320 family. Costing $2 billion USD (€1.85 billion) to develop, aircraft production was to take place in China.
Simultaneously, Airbus was developing the Airbus A318. In early 1998, Airbus revealed that it was designing a 100-seat aircraft based on the original A320. The AE31X project was terminated by September 1998, and Airbus officially announced the A318 at that year's Farnborough Airshow. The aircraft was the smallest in Airbus's product range, and was developed coincidentally at the same time as the largest commercial aircraft in history, the double deck Airbus A380 superjumbo.
First called the A319M5 in as early as March of 1995, it was shorter by 0.79-meters ahead of the wing and 1.6 meters behind. These cuts reduced passenger capacity from 124 on the A319 to 107 passengers in a two-class layout. Range was 3,100 nmi, or 3,210 nmi, with upcoming Sharklets, Airbus’ equivalent of winglets.
THE NEO
In 2006 Airbus started the A320 Enhanced (A320E) program as a series of improvements targeting a 4–5% efficiency gain with large winglets (2%), aerodynamic refinements (1%), weight savings and a new aircraft cabin. At the time Airbus' Sales Chief John Leahy said "Who's going to roll over a fleet to a new generation aircraft for 5% better than an A320 today? Especially if another 10% improvement might be coming in the second half of the next decade based on new engine technology."
Airbus’ famed Sharklet wingtip device.
Airbus launched the sharklet blended wingtip device during the November, 2009 Dubai Airshow. The installation adds 200 kilograms but offers a 3.5% fuel burn reduction on flights over 1,500 nmi.
Airbus planned to offer two engine choices on their NEO, the CFM International LEAP-1A and the Pratt & Whitney GTF (PW1100G), with 20% lower maintenance cost than current A320 engines. The new engines burn 16% less fuel, though the actual gain is slightly less as 1–2% is typically lost when installed on an existing aircraft.
At the February 2010 Singapore Air Show, Airbus said its decision to launch was scheduled for the July 2010 Farnborough Air Show. On 1 December 2010, Airbus launched the A320neo "New Engine Option" with 500 nmi more range or 2 Tons more payload, and planned to deliver 4,000 over 15 years. Development costs were predicted to be "slightly more than €1 billion [$1.3 billion USD]". The neo list price would be $6 million USD more than the ceo, including $3.5 million USD for airframe modifications and around $0.9 million USD for the sharklets.
The officially-named A320neo was slated for service entry in spring 2016, the A321neo six months later and the A319neo six months after that.
The 2010 order for 40 Bombardier CS300s (now known as Airbus A220-300) and 40 options from Republic Airways Holdings – then owner of exclusive A319/320 operator Frontier Airlines – pushed Airbus into the re-engine. Airbus COO-customers John Leahy decided against ignoring the CSeries and allowing it to grow, as Boeing had previously done with Airbus, and instead aggressively competed against Bombardier Aerospace.
Introduction was then advanced to October of 2015. Airbus claims a 15% fuel saving and "over 95 percent airframe commonality with the current A320". Its commonality helped to reduce delays associated with large changes.
In March 2013, airlines' choices between the two engines were almost equal.
The new "Space-Flex" optional cabin configuration increases space-efficiency with a new rear galley configuration and a "Smart-Lav" modular lavatory design – allowing an in-flight change of two lavatories into one accessible toilet. The rearranged cabin allows up to 20 more passengers for the A321neo without "putting more sardines in the can" with the larger "Cabin-Flex" modified exits described below.
Total fuel consumption (TFC) per seat is reduced by over 20%, while the rearranged cabin allows up to nine more passengers for the A320neo.
The first air-worthy Airbus A320neo rolled out of the Toulouse factory on 1st of July, 2014 and the first flight was scheduled for September in 2014.
AIR WORTHINESS QUALIFICATIONS
The first flight of the neo occurred on 25 September 2014. Its Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-JM geared turbofan (GTF) engine was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on 19 December 2014. After 36 months, the A320neo and A321neo had flown around 4,000 hours for certification of the two powerplant versions.
Of these 4,000 hours flown, 2,250 were with PW GTFs and 1,770 with CFM LEAP engines. The flight test programme was to conclude in 2018 with the completion of A319neo testing. The changes impact flying qualities, performance and system integration; they entailed retuning the fly-by-wire controls and meeting type certification requirements which have evolved since 1988, and helped decrease the minimum V speeds. The neo is 1.8 t heavier than the ceo, but take-off and landing performance is the same with a modified rotation law, adjusted wing flap and wing slat angles and rudder deflection increased by 5° to cope with the higher thrust.
The A320neo is half as loud as an A320 at take-off, with an 85 decibel noise footprint. The LEAP-powered A321neo (see above) has 83.3 dB (decibels) flyover noise, substantially lower than the older CFM56 and V2500.
Airbus’ A220, the scaled down (not simply shrunken) version of the A320, formerly the flagship of the Bombardier C-Series
The first delivery slipped to early 2016. Lufthansa took delivery of the first A320neo (see above) on 20 January 2016. Two hundred deliveries were targeted in 2017, but as Pratt & Whitney faced ramp-up difficulties, Airbus expected that 30 aircraft would have to be parked awaiting engines. The fourth and latest final assembly line in Hamburg was to open in July 2017; 60 A320s should be produced monthly from 2019.
With 90 A320neos delivered by October 2017, Airbus acknowledged that it would not attain the 200 target, even with many deliveries in the fourth quarter. More than 40 A320neos were parked without engines, but with most of the engine issues resolved by early 2018, more than half of the A320s delivered in 2018 were expected to be neos. Airbus expected to produce 60 narrow-bodies per month by the middle of 2019 and studied higher rates. Airbus confirmed plans to reach 63 monthly from 55 in 2018 and study 70 to 75 monthly beyond 2019, though Safran, one of the two partners in LEAP producer CFM, could not commit to higher volumes.
TEETHING PROBLEMS
In February of 2018, after in-flight failures of the PW1100G with its high pressure compressor aft hub modified, apparently caused by problems with its knife-edge seal, European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Airbus grounded some A320neo family aircraft until they were fitted with spares. As of February 2018, P&W engines had flown 500,000 hours since introduction and 113 P&W-powered A320neo family aircraft were operated by eight customers. Airbus then stopped accepting PW1100G engines.
Deliveries of A320neos resumed in May, after Pratt returned to the original design seal as a quick fix. By the end of June, Airbus expected to have around 100 A320neos awaiting engines and aimed to deliver most of them in the second half of the year, for a total of over 800 aircraft handed over in 2018. In the first five months of 2018, 69 had been delivered: 40% of all single-aisles, and almost 80% with CFM LEAP engines, but the 22 delivered in May were equally split between the two power plants.
Estimated deliveries in 2018 were expected to be missed by a quantity of 30–40 aircraft unless Pratt could accelerate production, exposing itself and Airbus to late penalties. Bernstein Research Center had forecast 50 fewer deliveries than planned and expected a return to normal by 2019. Delivery targets could still be met with other engine options (neo or ceo), as 210 Leap-powered jets were planned. After having peaked above 100, the number of aircraft parked awaiting their turbofans declined to 86 by the end of June. The 500th A320neo family aircraft was delivered in October, 2018.
In July of 2019, fairly recently, with the A321neo accounting for 40% of all its sales, Airbus was examining options for allocating more production capacity to this stretched variant of the A320. All A321s are currently assembled in Hamburg, Germany; one assembly option under consideration would be to repurpose the A380 assembly line in Toulouse, Airbus’ central headquarters and main plant.
In the first half of 2019, Airbus delivered 294 A320ceo/A320neo-family aircraft, of which 71 were A321neos and 163 were A320neos (i.e. A321neos accounted for 30% of neo deliveries).
EARLY PROJECTIONS & COVID ERA
In January of 2020, Airbus confirmed that the A380 assembly line is to be converted to a "digitally enabled" final assembly facility for the A321neo by mid-2022, because of unprecedented demand, in particular for the A321 LR and XLR variants. In February, it indicated that it had a clear path to increasing production rates beyond the 63 per month targeted for 2021, to reach 65 or 67 by 2023. In April, Airbus reduced the average production rate to 40 per month due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global aviation from 2020.
Underside of the Lufthansa A320neo
In May of 2021, Airbus targeted a production rate of 45 per month by the end of 2021, 64 by the second quarter of 2023, asked its supply chain to allow a rate of 70 from the first quarter of 2024 and is looking for 75 by 2025. Also in May of 2021, Airbus announced that for improved aerodynamic performance the wing will be longer and thinner with folding wingtips to access existing airport gates, a concept pioneered by naval military aircraft. By May 2021, assembly of the first demonstrator was to start in the coming weeks, as the project should be completed by 2023 before an eventual product launch.
THE FUTURE
A “radical” A320 makeover is expected to cost over 4 billion euros ($4.9 billion USD), significantly less than the estimates of $15 billion to $20 billion USD for an all-new Boeing design. Due to the increased length and increased lift, the newly designed wings could also be used on an Airbus A322, an A321 lengthened by 4 passenger seat-rows, now being studied by Airbus. This A322, in turn, became the new varianr of the much—desired Airbus A321XLR-standing for Extra Long Range.
By January of 2019, three years after its full commercial introduction, 58p5 neos were in commercial service with over 60 operators, led by IndiGo (87), Frontier Airlines (33) and China Southern (26). Lufthansa confirms the PW “PurePower” engine garnered 16% fuel savings, 21% per seat with denser 180-seat layout up from 168, while Avianca states its CFM International LEAPs are 15–20% more efficient, quieter, reduce oil consumption and routine maintenance. Starting both engines initially took 6–7 min up from the A320ceo's 2 min, improving to 2–3 min by late 2017, still longer than the ceo. LEAP production bottlenecks led to early delivery delays, with no significant repercussions at Avianca or AirAsia; AirAsia's dispatch reliability is comparable to its A320ceos.
Inaugural A320neo by launch-customer Lufthansa
After a year in service, Lufthansa confirmed the 20% efficiency gain per passenger with up to 180 seats, along with reduced noise and CO2 emissions. Operators confirm the 15% per seat fuel-burn savings even counterbalanced by the added weight on short sectors, which can rise to 16–17% on longer routes and to 20% or more for Lufthansa with 180 passengers up from 168 with two more seat rows.
Software update
Ventral-view of the A320neo in flight
In July 2019, Airbus disclosed two outwardly similar, though separate, issues which could result in excessive pitch up behaviour, one affecting the A320neo and the other the A321neo. Both issues were detected during analysis and laboratory testing, and have not been encountered in actual operation. Airbus has addressed the issues through temporary revisions to the flight manual, including loading recommendations and a change to the centre-of-gravity envelope, and expected to release updated flight control software in 2020. As Lufthansa waited for the 2020 flight software update, it blocked the last row of its aft-heavy layout of 180, offering only 174 seats.
Possible A320 Military Conversion
In 2018, Airbus explored the possibility of military versions, for VIP transport, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and maritime patrol for the armed forces of France, Germany and the Netherlands; or Asia-Pacific nations such as Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. Such conversions would be possible within a six-to-eight-month timescale. The aircraft will be able to take roll-on/roll-off mission payloads to carry passengers, troops, VIPs, patients, or cargo. The aircraft could be fitted with a weapons bay, a self-protection system, or a magnetic anomaly detector and could be configured for signals intelligence or Airborne Early Warning and Control.
MODERN EVALUATION
By January of 2018, the A321neo had received 1,920 orders, exceeding orders for the A321ceo. By this time the A321neo accounted for 32% of all A320neo family orders, whereas the original A321 represented just 22% of A320ceo family orders. By July 2022, the A321neo represented over 53% of all A320neo family orders. A stretch would probably involve fore and aft plugs to keep its centre-of-gravity, but tailstrike clearance could constrain field speed and performance and a larger aircraft could need more powerful engines, while further cabin crew would be needed over 250 seats. In 2018, an A321neo list price was $129.5 million USD.
Stretching the A321neo by one or two rows would be needed to compete with the Boeing NMA- new model aircraft, a concept airliner: its take-off weight could increase to 100 tons by tweaking its wing and strengthening its landing gear, requiring more engine thrust; or it could receive a lighter and larger new wing, more costly to develop but with the same thrust.
THE A321 XLR
Qatar Airways’ A321-XLRs sit on the tarmac outside the factory awaiting delivery of their engines.
In January 2018, Airbus was studying an A321LR variant with a further increased MTOW. The proposed A321XLR, with an increased range of 4,500 nmi, was to be launched in 2019 to enter service in 2021 or 2022 and compete with the Boeing NMA, supposedly the ultimate commercial aircraft of the 2030s. In November, Airbus indicated that the A321XLR would have an MTOW over 100 tons and 700 nmi more range than the A321LR.
The A321XLR was launched at the June 2019 Paris Air Show, with 4,700 nmi of range from 2023, including a new permanent Rear Centre Tank (RCT) for more fuel, a strengthened landing gear for a 101 tons MTOW; and an optimized wing trailing-edge flap configuration to preserve take-off performance. The company announced in June 2022 that the aircraft had completed its first flight.
A321XLR in debut Dubai Air Show Airbus livery showing New York to Rome decals.
Why anyone would want to fly long-range long-haul in a small, cramped, mainly-economy single-aisle airliner is beyond me. But that’s just me.
