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Airbus has sought to highlight an impending significant milestone in the history of the company by getting an A220-100 to create a flight path that resembled the figures “12K” during a test flight.
The figure “12K” is a nod to the fact the aerospace giant is approaching 12,000 aircraft deliveries.
The company posted the flight path of the A220-100, which currently has Canadian registration C-FOVX, on its Twitter page.
Our flight test team certainly had fun yesterday! We're so proud of our upcoming 12,000th delivery – we've written about it in the skies during an official test flight. A great opportunity for this very special #A220 to stretch its wings. ✈️ pic.twitter.com/1ruLeIn8gw
— Airbus (@Airbus) May 9, 2019
The A220-100, which performed the artistic test flight on Wednesday, May 8 (Canadian time) over the skies of Montreal, spent about three hours and 45 minutes flying the “12K” flight path.
The 12th @Airbus A220-100 for Delta Air Lines (due to be registered as N113DX once delivered) has performed a rather special test flight, drawing a big '12K' in the sky ahead of Airbus' 12,000 aircraft deliveries milestone (h/t @aibfamilyflight)https://t.co/y3JVwSTTDt pic.twitter.com/BWpca8KTRV
— International Flight Network (@FlightIntl) May 8, 2019
At April 30 2019, Airbus had delivered 11,995 aircraft, according to figures on its website. This comprised 235 A380s, 2,088 A340/A350s, 8,856 A220/A320s and 816 A300/A310s.
Of the 11,995 delivered, some 10,926 remained in operation.
The A220 is the newest member of the Airbus family of commercial aircraft. It was formerly known as the CSeries when the program was managed by Bombardier.
However, in October 2017 Airbus struck an agreement with Bombardier to become a partner and 50.01 per cent majority shareholder in the CSeries, with Bombardier and the Quebec government’s investment arm, Investissement Québec, owning approximately 34 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively.
The deal was finalised on July 1 2018 and later in the month Airbus officially rebranded the CSeries as the A220 at an event held at its Toulouse headquarters.
Powered by the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G geared turbofans, the A220 family comprises two models – the A220-100 (100-135 seats) and A220-300 (130-160 seats), formerly Bombardier’s CS100 and CS300.
The A220-100 has a range of 2,950nm when configured with 116 passengers, while Airbus lists the A220-300’s range on its website as 3,200nm with 141 passengers.
VIDEO: A closer look at the Airbus A220 from the Airbus YouTube channel.
In February 2019, Air Vanuatu became the first airline in the South Pacific to order the type when it signed for four aircraft at the Avalon Airshow.
It was expected to receive two A220s in 2020, with the remaining two aircraft to be delivered in 2021 and 2022.
