Subscription required

By Bjorn Fehrm

May 1, 2025, © Leeham News: For years, the debate has been going on about when Airbus will complement the A220-100 and -300 with a longer, higher-capacity A220-500.

In fact, the Bombardier team that designed the A220 as the CS300 already foresaw the prospect of a longer -500. The latest discussions have been around how much to stretch and whether a new wing and stronger engines are needed if the A220-500 replaces the A320neo in the Airbus lineup.

We use the Leeham Aircraft Performance and Cost Model (APCM) to examine the design data for the A220-100 and -300 and determine whether a stretched -500 would benefit from a new wing and stronger engines (which would then be the CFM LEAP-1Bs used on the Boeing 737 MAX).

Figure 1. A rendering of a possible A220-500. Source: Leeham Co.

Summary:

• The A220 started life as the CSeries, designed to compete with Embraer’s E-Jet E2.
• It has since added range through increased Maximum Takeoff Weights to enter the single aisle segment range-wise.
• A stretched A220 would expand the present A220 series upwards and potentially replace the A320neo for Airbus.
• We start by comparing the A220 to the E2, then we move on to examining whether an A220-500 can successfully replace the A320neo.