Already 5 years of commercial flights for the largest bird in Quebec

The Airbus A220, built by Bombardier, is the largest aircraft ever developed in Quebec, celebrated five years of entering service.

“It wasn’t always easy, we had a lot of pitfalls, but we always believed in them,” says Rob Dewar, a former Bombardier who is now Vice President of Airbus.

The first commercial flight of the C Series took place on 15 July 2016 between Zurich and Paris. Since then, more than 150 devices have entered service. They’ve made over 365,000 trips and traveled over 410 million kilometers!

technical problem

In the theater of tragedies that plagued the Boeing 737 Max, the entry of the C Series into service went fairly well. Various engine problems suffered from the A220 during its early years.

“Pratt & Whitney has really pushed the boundaries of technology, so it’s only fitting that there are some elements of maturity to sort out,” Dewar says.

Responsible for the entry of the C-Class into service in Switzerland, Peter Koch also reveals that initially, there was a sudden blackout just before takeoff. The situation was gradually corrected with software modifications.

In terms of improvements, Airbus has expanded the range of the A220 and is preparing to do so again. Aircraft with 100 to 150 seats can travel more than 6000 km.

Nine airlines currently have A220s in their fleets, including Swiss Airlines, Air Baltic, Delta Air Lines, Air Canada, Korean Air, Tanzania Airlines, JetBlue and Air Austral. Air France will be added to the list in September.

Mr. Koch still remembers how in 2008 Airbus and Boeing responded to airlines looking for improved mid-haul.

“We were told ‘You can choose the A320 or the 737’. It was that or nothing. If it wasn’t for Canadian entrepreneurship, this venture to build a new aircraft, there would be no A220, no A320neo, no 737 Max, no Embraer E2,” as Confirms-