Airbus has delivered its first US-manufactured A220 aircraft to Delta Air Lines.

The former Bombardier C series was only initially produced at the Mirabel Quebec plant with major components constructed at the Belfast Northern Ireland factory.

Several milestones led up to this historic moment.

From the ground breaking of the Mobile Alabama final assembly line in January 2019, through the official start of A220 production in August 2019, and the inaugural flight of this aircraft in June, the A220 teams in Mirabel and Mobile worked closely together to make the A220 production in the US a success.

“Handing over the first US-assembled aircraft to a US-based customer is a real point of pride for the A220 Programme,” said Philippe Balducchi, leading the A220 Programme. “This delivery is the first of many to come and shows the strong collaborative spirit between the A220 Programme teams globally.”

Delta Air Lines is currently the largest A220 customer, with a total of 95 A220 aircraft on order, and will be the first A220 operator in the Americas to be operating both A220-100 and A220-300 aircraft types.  

The 100 series aircraft can make New York JFK non-stop from London City Airport.  Whether Delta decides to raise its UK profile by modifying aircraft for such an operation is something to speculate for the future.   

As of end September, 123 Airbus A220s have been delivered to seven operators and are being flown on routes in Asia, America, Europe and Africa.

www.airbus.com/aircraft/passenger-aircraft/a220-family.html