Airbus announced Monday that it had commenced construction of the first Airbus Corporate Jet TwoTwenty at its Mirabel facility in Canada. The sleek and spacious ‘Xtra Large Bizjet’ will be outfitted by its launch customer, Comlux, and the first of its kind is scheduled to enter service in 2023.
News is in abundance today out of Airbus’ business jet section, Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ). Earlier, we reported how an unidentified customer had placed an order for an ACJ319neo, taking the total of orders for the private version of the rare jet to six.
Mid-fuselage has arrived in Mirabel
Meanwhile, ACJ has also received the first section of the recently launched business jet ACJ TwoTwenty at Airbus’ Mirabel facility. The arrival of the jet’s mid-fuselage section marks the beginning of the first Airbus business jet to be constructed in Canada.
While the name may be written in letters instead of numbers, the aircraft is a combination of a signature flexible cabin catalog and the ever-increasingly popular Airbus A220. Launched in late 2020, it received six orders right off the bat – as many as the ACJ319neo has gained in six years.
Launch customer to outfit cabin
The aircraft’s exclusive interior has been designed by ACJ’s Head of Design Sylvain Mariat. Comlux, the outfitter for the first 15 of the jets to be built, is also the launch customer for the aircraft, purchasing two for itself. The company, based in Switzerland and specializing in VIP customer aviation needs, is already promoting the program on its website.
The cabin comes with a versatility of choice. 100+ cabin configurations, to be precise. All of of them have in common 785 square feet (73 square meters) of floorspace. This is distributed over six wide VIP living areas, about 130 square feet (12 square meters) each. The cabin also features what Airbus says is the widest seat in the industry.
Enter the extra large bizjet
The first aircraft is expected to enter into service in 2023. Based on the shorter-fuselage A220-100, the newcomer to the ACJ family will be able to accommodate up to 19 passengers. Airbus is marketing it as creating a whole new segment – ‘The Xtra Large Bizjet’.
The TwoTwenty has a range of 5,650 NM (10,463 km) and can stay in the air for close to 12 hours. This does put it at a slight disadvantage compared to the ACJ319neo, which can fly for 15 hours when accommodating up to eight passengers.
It is also not in a segment entirely of its own, as a Gulf Stream G500s and G650s can also fly 5,000 NM and close to 7,000 NM, respectively. However, the comfort of flying under 20 people in an airframe built for the 100 to 135 seater marker cannot be denied.
What do you make of the future for the airliner size business jet market? How many TwoTwenty will Airbus end up selling? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.
