At a media event in Montreal today, Airbus announced that the smallest members of their aircraft family – the A220 family has been cleared for ETOP180 operation.
ETOPS (Extended Operations) allows for a plane to operate with one engine degraded, and to flight times between diversion airports – in this case, rated for 180 minutes – or up to three hours.
The certification from Transport Canada, with US FAA and EU EASA ETOPS certification still pending approval.
This in itself opens up a lot of possibilities – both in use and configuration. At the event, Airbus showed some of the route pairs that could be launched.
Some examples were given by Airbus – with a range of up to 3,200nm/5,600km – include
- London to New York
- Honolulu to Los Angeles
- Seoul to Darwin (Australia)
It also opens up the network to thin and light routes. A good example of the use of a thin and light route is the Riga to Abu Dhabi operated by airBaltic – with 6 hours plus in the air using an Airbus A220-300.
The A220 is powered and qualified against the Pratt and Whitney PurePower PW1500G engines, which are used in the family of aircraft.
Another step forward, but don’t expect these new services to start overnight
So it’s great to see Airbus has got the A220 family certified for longer diversions and operations. However, don’t expect to see these new routes pop up in your booking engine soon.
Why?
It takes time for an airline to work out if a route can be viable, let alone profitable. There’s also the small matter of getting the actual aircraft onto the route to operate.
Which takes time and money.
For now, this gives current and new operators of the Airbus A220 an important thing – options and flexibility.
And if the numbers add up – maybe some very interesting route pairs.
H/T Chris Sloan at @airchive for the original tweet.
Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, with in-depth coverage, unique research as well as the humour and madness as I only know how to deliver.
Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates! You can also follow me on Instagram too!
Also remember that as well as being part of BoardingArea, we’re also part of BoardingArea.eu, delivering frequent flyer news, miles and points to the European reader.
Excellent news ! The A220 would be the ideal aircraft for flights between Cape Town and the island of St.Helena (HLE).
St. Helena is very isolated and has a short runway. Flights there -. at the moment from Johannesburg via Windhoek – are a compromise and result in 6 hours flight time and very high air fares. With nonstop flights from Cape Town the A220 could change all that.
St. John’s and Dublin?
Entirely possible since London to New York is in range. Conveniently, Air Canada has A220s on order. But is demand there on that route?
This is interesting, especially as the LCC/ULCC services across the Pond seem to be doing poorly, but a US-based carrier with extensive domestic networks out of both BOS and JFK just ordered the A220 and (rumour has it) is considering equipping some with a premium product?
And that rumour also has it that the very same airline is itching to dip its toes in the Pond, especially with at least two major UK cities having no direct service to the US other than seasonal flights to Orlando-Sanford for mouse worship and cheap outlet store shopping?
Hmmmmmm…
The Airbus A220 family would be the only single aisle planes I’d fly transatlantic! They have a rare level of passenger comfort that makes up for the short comings of a smaller plane on longhaul.
Let’s hope jetBlue start those flights between London and New York/Boston! Love to try the Mint product!
Great airplane Too bad the monopolist Boeing tried to kill it. Considering the MAX’s recent record it looks good on them. Too bad they started killing people with their incompetence. Flew the MAX LHR to St John’s Newfoundland in Aug.. Terrible plane with smaller washrooms and what is called premium economy replacing lie flat seats service. Air Canada should be ashamed of themselves.