A Korean Air Airbus A220-300 suffered a failure to its left Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engine on 27 December 2018.
In response to FlightGlobal’s query, the carrier confirmed the incident, stating that the aircraft registered HL8314, was operating as flight KE753 on the Busan-Nagoya route with 64 passengers onboard.
On the day the incident happened, the aircraft departed Busan Gimhae International airport at 13.01 hours local time for Nagoya, where the engine failure was detected 25 minutes later. It subsequently made a return for Busan, and safely landed at Gimhae airport 59 minutes after departure.
While the airline was unable to comment on the damage suffered by the Pratt & Whitney PW1521G powerplant, a picture circulating on social media purportedly indicates severe damage to the blades of the low pressure turbine.
“The aircraft is currently under inspection at our hangar. Korean Air always puts safety as its first priority, and we are working closely with Airbus and Pratt & Whitney for comprehensive assessment,” it adds.
Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that HL8314 (MSN 55035) is owned by an unspecified entity. It is managed and operated by Korean Air since delivery was made in August 2018.
03 January 2019 | By: Michael Gubisch, London Source: FLIGHT DASHBOARD
David Neeleman’s US start-up carrier has firmed an order for 60 Airbus A220-300s, after tentatively signing for the jets at last year’s Farnborough air show.
Airbus says the deal with the JetBlue founder’s new airline – “code-named Moxy” – was completed in late December, and that the aircraft will be built in the USA, at the planned A220 assembly line in Mobile, Alabama.
Construction of that facility – adjacent to Airbus’s US A320 assembly line – is set to begin later this month, adds the airframer. The new A220 line will supplement one in Mirabel, Canada.
Deliveries of A220s to Neeleman’s carrier are scheduled to begin in 2021, Airbus said last year.
Neeleman describes the A220 as having a “unique… ability to operate profitably in thin, underserved markets across a broad spectrum of ranges”.
He states: “With a low cost of operation and spacious cabin, the A220 will allow us to provide passengers with lower fares and a high quality, comfortable flying experience.”
At Farnborough last year, Neeleman stressed that Moxy was merely a working title for his airline project, acknowledging that the name was already used by the Marriott group for one of its hotel brands.
Air Tanzania has become the first African carrier to take delivery of the Airbus A220 aircraft, the newest addition to the Airbus family of commercial aircraft. Air Tanzania (The Wings of the Kilimanjaro) also becomes the latest member of Airbus aircraft operators.
Representatives from the airline – as well as officials from the United Republic of Tanzania government, alongside executives from the A220 programme – celebrated the aircraft’s handover at the A220 Mirabel assembly line.
“The A220’s unrivalled passenger comfort, combined with its remarkable performance and economics, will be an excellent asset to further develop Air Tanzania’s network,” said Tito Kasambala, Acting CEO, Tanzanian Government Flight Agency (TGFA).
The A220 will allow Air Tanzania to further develop its domestic and regional market as well as open new routes to India and the Middle East from its home base at Dar es Salaam.
“With the addition of the A220 in our fleet, we are confident that we will expand our footprint in the growing African markets and beyond, as we unlock additional routes and regain our position as a key player in the African air transport market,” added Ladislaus Matindi, Managing Director & CEO, Air Tanzania Company Limited.
Air Tanzania becomes the fifth airline globally with an A220 family aircraft.
“After Europe, Asia and America, we are proud to see the A220 fly now also on the African continent and in Air Tanzania’s livery. With over 240 Airbus aircraft flying in Africa and a large network of flight service offices in the region, we are ready to contribute to the airline’s success,” said Philippe Balducchi, CEO of the A220 partnership.
The A220 is the only aircraft purpose-built for the 100-150 seat market; it delivers unbeatable fuel efficiency and true widebody comfort in a single-aisle aircraft. The A220 brings together state-of-the-art aerodynamics, advanced materials and Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines to offer at least 20 percent lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft. With a range of up to 3,200 nm (5020 km), the A220 offers the performance of larger single aisle aircraft.
With an order book of over 400 aircraft to date, the A220 has all the credentials to win the lion’s share of the 100- to 150-seat aircraft market, estimated to represent at least 7,000 aircraft over the next 20 years.
04 DECEMBER, 2018 | SOURCE: FLIGHT DASHBOARD | BY: JON HEMMERDINGER | BOSTON
Airbus confirms it has kicked off construction of two new buildings in Mirabel that will enable the company to boost production of A220s.
The move precedes the Airbus’s plan to open an A220 assembly site in the USA, and comes as it begins fulfilling major orders from several large North American airlines.
“To support our ramp up, we need extra space in Mirabel, so we’ve started construction work for two new dome structures which will be ready around spring 2019,” Airbus tells FlightGlobal.
The domes will “create additional capacity for the final assembly process”, says Airbus.
The company declines to provide additional details about new construction at Mirabel, which aviation blog FliegerFaust.com reported in recent days.
Airbus, and Bombardier before it, have sought to boost production of the aircraft previously known as the CSeries, which is assembled in the same Mirabel complex in which Bombardier assembles CRJ regional jets.
Prior to Airbus’ acquisition of the A220 in July, Bombardier executives talked of hiking production to between 90 and 120 aircraft annually by 2020.
But, actual production rates increased at a glacial pace in recent years.
Bombardier delivered just 17 of the aircraft in 2017. So far this year, Bombardier and Airbus have handed over just 25 A220s, according to Flight Fleets Analyzer.
In addition to the new facility planned in Mirabel, production should benefit from Airbus’ plans to open an A220 assembly site in Mobile, Alabama, where the European airframer also assembles A320-family aircraft.
Airbus expects to break ground on the A220 Mobile site in early 2019, it confirms.
The moves come as Airbus prepares to begin handing over A220s to major customers Air Canada and JetBlue Airways, following the first delivery to Delta Air Lines in October.
Atlanta-based Delta has orders for 75 of the aircraft, and had initially expected to receive them all by the end of 2020.
Air Canada has orders for 45 A220s, with deliveries pegged for between 2019 and 2022, and JetBlue has orders for 60 A220-300s, with deliveries to begin in 2020.
Latvian airline airBaltic on December 1, 2018 in Riga welcomed the last Airbus A220-300 jet for the year, registered as YL-CSM. Currently airBaltic has a total of 14 Airbus A220-300 aircraft on its fleet.
Thus far, airBaltic has carried over 1 850 000 passengers on the Airbus A220-300 aircraft with every third airBaltic passenger flying on the aircraft. Airbus A220-300’s have completed more than 17 684 flights and flown over 47 475 block hours. By the end of the 2019 airBaltic plans to have 22 Airbus A220-300 aircraft on its fleet.
Since the launch operations on December 14, 2016, airBaltic Airbus A220-300’s have been in more than 35 countries and landed in over 70 airports. Most often airBaltic flies Airbus A220-300’s to Moscow, Amsterdam, Paris, London and Barcelona.
The Airbus A220-300 offers an excellent flying experience with such benefits for passengers as wider seats, larger windows, more hand luggage space in the cabin, improved lavatories and much more. The new aircraft is also considerably quieter – with a four times smaller noise footprint. Moreover, at the moment it is the greenest commercial aircraft in the world, as it is the first aircraft to have a transparent declaration of the life-cycle environmental impact, helping to reduce CO2 and NOX emissions by 20% and 50% respectively.
This summer airBaltic has also launched an improved cabin with new, comfortable seats on its latest three Airbus A220-300 aircraft. Passengers now benefit from such additional improvements as more legroom, new pockets behind the seats for magazines, as well as hangers next to the seat for jackets.
airBaltic serves over 70 destinations from Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius, offering the largest variety of destinations and convenient connections via Riga to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, the CIS and the Middle East. For summer 2019, airBaltic has introduced three new destinations from Tallinn to Malaga, Brussels and Copenhagen. In addition, next summer airBaltic will launch new direct routes from Riga to Stuttgart and Lviv.
The narrow-body’s twin engines emit what locals have described as a strange howling noise as it comes in to land, enraging people living on the flight path in Zurich
Bloomberg News – Richard Weiss, Benjamin Katz and Corinne Gretler – November 5 2018
Swiss Air greeted the arrival of its latest plane with great fanfare, dubbing the Airbus SE A220 model the “Whisperjet” and promising neighbourhoods around Zurich Airport that it would be 50 per cent quieter than older aircraft.
But that tag has come back to haunt the Deutsche Lufthansa AG unit as the narrow-body’s twin engines emit what locals have described as a strange howling noise as it comes in to land, enraging people living on the flight path.
“It’s even louder than other machines flying in,” said Klaus Stoehlker, spokesman for the Zurich-based Foundation Against Aircraft Noise. “They’ve been describing it as temporary while they make assessments, but for nine months now it hasn’t gone away.”
Zurich Airport has received complaints on its noise hotline of unusual sounds when the A220 passes overhead, a spokeswoman said, adding that it’s working with Swiss to seek a quick solution. The plane — developed by Bombardier Inc. and now part of the Airbus lineup — isn’t breaching rules and the sound, which last for a few seconds, hasn’t triggered higher fees that apply to louder jets.
Airbus and Swiss each said they are aware of the situation and in close contact with engine maker Pratt & Whitney, which is analyzing the noise — likened by some to the mating call of an orca whale — to determine its cause. The sound “occasionally occurs” during throttle movements when A220 is at low power, a Pratt spokeswoman said, adding that the jet’s total noise footprint still represents a 75 per cent improvement on older planes.
The issue, which affects A220 models seemingly at random, risks blemishing the plane’s credentials as ideal for noise-limited airports. Hubs including Frankfurt operate strict night curfews, while London City, which Swiss also serves with the plane, restricts weekend flights.
The Whisperjet name has been applied to a variety of planes over the decades, including the BAE-146 and Eastern Airlines Boeing Co. 727s, whose tail-mounted engines made the front of the cabin quiet but the rear especially noisy.
Becomes first airline in North America to receive A220
Mirabel, Quebec; October 26, 2018: Airbus today welcomed Delta Air Lines as the first U.S. carrier to take delivery of the Airbus A220 aircraft. On hand for the delivery ceremony at the aircraft’s assembly line in Mirabel were members of the A220 team as well as government officials and executives from Delta, Airbus, Bombardier and Investissement Quebec.
“It is with great pride that we take delivery of our first, state-of-the-art A220-100,” said Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian. “We have big plans for our A220 fleet and are confident that Delta customers and Delta people alike will be delighted with the in-flight experience provided by this thoroughly modern and efficient aircraft. We value our longstanding partnerships with Airbus and Bombardier and are grateful for the great design and manufacturing work done by the team here in Mirabel.”
Delta’s A220 will enter service in early 2019, making Delta the fourth global airline to operate the aircraft previously known as the Bombardier C Series. The C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership (CSALP) welcomed Airbus as lead partner earlier this year, prompting the change of name to the Airbus A220. Delta is the largest A220-100 customer, with a firm order for 75 aircraft.
Guillaume Faury, President of Airbus’ commercial aircraft business, said, “We at Airbus are dedicated to providing our customers the right products for a marketplace that needs modern, efficient and passenger-friendly aircraft – and the remarkable A220 certainly delivers. When a great airline like Delta puts a new aircraft into service as a platform for their outstanding passenger service, the entire industry takes note. The A220 team is gratified by the confidence that the Delta family has placed in this excellent, Canadian-born aircraft.”
The A220-100 delivers unbeatable fuel efficiency. It brings together state-of-the-art aerodynamics, advanced materials and Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines to offer at least 20 percent lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft.
With an order book of over 400 aircraft to date, the A220 has all the credentials to win the lion’s share of the 100- to 150-seat aircraft market, estimated to represent at least 7,000 aircraft over the next 20 years.
MIRABEL, QC, Oct. 24, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ – The first Airbus A220 aircraft to be delivered to a North American airline will be officially handed over to Delta Air Lines on Friday 26 October in a ceremony at the A220 assembly plant in Mirabel, in the presence of senior leaders representing Delta Air Lines, Airbus, Bombardier, as well as elected officials
Delta will be first U.S. operator to benefit from new-generation aircraft’s unbeatable efficiency
Photo: Kurt Hofmann
MIRABEL, QC, Oct. 6, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ –Delta Air Lines’ first A220-100 took off on its first flight from Mirabel airport, Québec, at 2:02 p.m. local time. The aircraft was crewed by A220 programme test pilots. During successful 3-hour flight, the crew checked the aircraft’s main systems and landed back in Mirabel at 4:57 p.m.
The flight took place a few days after the aircraft rolled out of the paint shop. Next, the aircraft will continue with pre-delivery testing and assembly, as elements of its state-of-the-art interior come together at the A220 assembly line. Delta’s first A220 is scheduled to begin service in early 2019.
Delta Air Lines will be the first U.S. airline to operate the A220 – at the same time becoming the fourth A220 operator, after Swiss International Air Lines, airBaltic, and Korean Air. Delta is the largest A220-100 customer, with a firm order for 75 aircraft.
The A220-100 delivers unbeatable fuel efficiency. It brings together state-of-the-art aerodynamics, advanced materials and Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines to offer at least 20 percent lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft.
With an order book of over 400 aircraft to date, the A220 has all the credentials to win the lion’s share of the 100- to 150-seat aircraft market, estimated to represent at least 7,000 aircraft over the next 20 years.
MIRABEL, QC, Oct. 6, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ –Delta Air Lines’ first A220-100 took off on its first flight from Mirabel airport, Québec, at 2:02 p.m. local time. The aircraft was crewed by A220 programme test pilots. During successful 3-hour flight, the crew checked the aircraft’s main systems and landed back in Mirabel at 4:57 p.m.
The flight took place a few days after the aircraft rolled out of the paint shop. Next, the aircraft will continue with pre-delivery testing and assembly, as elements of its state-of-the-art interior come together at the A220 assembly line. Delta’s first A220 is scheduled to begin service in early 2019.
Delta Air Lines will be the first U.S. airline to operate the A220 – at the same time becoming the fourth A220 operator, after Swiss International Air Lines, airBaltic, and Korean Air. Delta is the largest A220-100 customer, with a firm order for 75 aircraft.
The A220-100 delivers unbeatable fuel efficiency. It brings together state-of-the-art aerodynamics, advanced materials and Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines to offer at least 20 percent lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft.
With an order book of over 400 aircraft to date, the A220 has all the credentials to win the lion’s share of the 100- to 150-seat aircraft market, estimated to represent at least 7,000 aircraft over the next 20 years.
