Airbus announced Thursday that Bombardier has transferred all remaining interest in the A220 program to Airbus SE and the Government of Québec. In a separate press release the company announced that the A330-800 has received EASA/FAA type certification.
On Thursday (February 13th), Airbus announced that Bombardier has transferred their remaining interest in the A220 program to Airbus SE and the Government of Québec. With the closing of the deal, Airbus now owns 75% of Airbus Canada, while the Government of Québec owns the remaining 25% stake. Additionally, Bombardier’s A220 and A330 work packages have been transferred to Airbus subsidiary Stella Aerospace, securing 360 jobs in Québec. Bombardier will receive a total of US $591M (net of adjustments) in total, of which US $531M was received at closing and they have been released of any future funding capital requirements to Airbus Canada. The closing of the deal secures 3,300 Airbus jobs in Québec and the provincial government’s 25% stake is redeemable by Airbus in 2026. In Thursday’s announcement, Airbus’ Chief Executive Officer, Guillaume Faury said,
“This agreement with Bombardier and the Government of Québec demonstrates our support and commitment to the A220 and Airbus in Canada. Furthermore, it extends our trustful partnership with the government of Québec. This is good news for our customers and employees as well as for the Québec and Canadian aerospace industry. I would like to sincerely thank Bombardier for the strong collaboration during our partnership. We are committed to this fantastic aircraft programme and we are aligned with the government of Québec in our ambition to bring long-term visibility to the Québec and Canadian Aerospace industry.”
The single-aisle aircraft market is a driver of industry growth, representing about 70% of future demand and the A220 (100-150 seats) complements Airbus’ existing narrow-body A320 Family products which can accommodate 150-240 seats. At the close of January 2020 Airbus had received orders for 658 A220s and there are currently 107 of the aircraft flying by seven customers on four continents. Airbus delivered 48 A220s in 2019 alone.
In a separate announcement on Thursday (February 13, 2020), Airbus celebrated the joint EASA and FAA type certification of the A330-800, paving the way for entry into service this year. The test aircraft (MSN1888) first flew in November 2018 completed the program with 370 flight test hours and 132 flights. The next generation A330-800 is part of the A330neo Family and is the company’s most fuel-efficient long-range entry level widebody aircraft. The aircraft combines a new composite 3D-optimized wing and sharklets with new Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines to deliver a 25% reduction in fuel burn, when compared to similar sized older generation competitor aircraft.
The A330-800 has been certified with a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 242 tons and a range of 7,500 nautical miles. The aircraft can seat 220-260 customers in a three-class configuration or up to 406 in a single-class high density arrangement. Currently, Airbus has 337 firm orders from global operators for A330neos. In total, Airbus has received more than 1,800 orders for A330 aircraft from over 120 customers worldwide, making it the most successful wide-body ever.
Source: Airbus