By Bjorn Fehrm

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Introduction

February 13, 2020, © Leeham News: We continue our analysis if the Airbus A220 is a credible long-range aircraft. We started looking at the limitations of the aircraft last week and how these could be lifted.

Now we continue with an analysis of the economics of the A220 compared to established long-range aircraft like the Airbus A330 and A321LR/XLR. Is a higher frequency A220 route competitive with an A330 or A31LR/XLR operated route? We also examine how Breeze air will operate its A220s on long-range routes.

Summary:

• By virtue of its size, the A330-300 has good economics when it can be filled to a high load factor.
• The A321LR comes close in operating costs to the A330-300 on these types of routes.
• The surprise is the competitiveness of the A220-300 on a route type it wasn't designed for.