The third member of the Airbus best-selling A320neo family – the A319neo – has gone airborne, performing its maiden flight on March 31, 2017. After taking off from Hamburg-Finkenwerder Airport in Germany (which is one of four final assembly line sites worldwide for the single-aisle jetliner family), the aircraft touched down five hours later at Airbus’s Toulouse, France headquarters location.
This shortest-fuselage member of the A320neo product line is equipped with CFM International LEAP-1A engines – one of the two powerplants available on the NEO jetliners.
Once in airline service, the A319neo will provide the same remarkable fuel efficiency as the longer-fuselage A320neo and A321neo versions, enabling airlines to choose between three aircraft sizes accommodating from 100 to 240 seats – depending on the specific passenger cabin layout. The choice allows carriers to match capacity with demand, covering the entire single-aisle jetliner segment from low- and high-density domestic operations to longer-range routes.
The A319neo’s flight campaign will focus primarily on aircraft handling qualities, autopilot, performance and systems – building on the required engine tests that already have been performed with the A320neo and A321neo versions.
Click here for a video of the A319neo flight.
April 6, 2017
