Airbus has announced that the A220 Family aircraft, the newest addition to its single-aisle portfolio, will be offering increased range starting from the second half of 2020.

The A220 aircraft maximum take-off weight (MTOW) is now confirmed to increase by 2,268kg (2.3 metric tonnes). The new MTOW will increase the respective maximum range capabilities to 3,350nm for the A220-300 and 3,400nm for the A220-100, some 450nm more than currently advertised.

The current basic MTOW is at 60.8 t for the A220-100 and 67.6 t for the A220-300. With the new MTOW increase of 2.3 t, the respective aircraft’s MTOW will be brought up at 63.1 t for the A220-100 and 69.9 for the A220-300.

The performance increase has been achieved by taking credit of existing structural and systems margins as well as existing fuel volume capacity. 

The new range capabilities will allow airlines to tap into new routes that were not possible before, connecting cities in Western Europe with the Middle East or from Southeast Asia to Australia.

The A220 entered airline service almost three years ago. The order book stands at over 530 aircraft.