The Airbus A319 is not going away – at least not yet.
The company will continue producing the smallest version of the A320 family despite earlier suggestions that A319 production might cease following Airbus's A220 acquisition, says a top executive. "It continues to make a lot of sense to have the A319 in the product range," Airbus president of commercial aircraft Guillaume Faury says this week.
"There will be less A319s with the A220… but we will still keep the product," Faury adds. "Yes, there is competition between the two products, but in some cases the A319 still has superiority." He made his comments to reporters in Mobile.
In October 2017, Airbus chief executive Tom Enders implied that Airbus's A220 purchase might lead it to do away with the slow-selling A319.
"We haven't sold A319s for the last five years," Enders said when asked about the A319's future. "I think that answers that question."
More recently, however, Airbus officials have said the A319 will remain in the lineup, at least until the company evaluates the A220's impact on A319 sales.
Airbus holds orders for 66 A319s, including 11 first-generation A319ceos and 55 of the new A319neo derivative, according to Airbus.
The A220 and A319 carry roughly the same number of passengers – a maximum of 160 on the A220 and 156 on the A319, according to Airbus.
But the A319 is a shrunken version of the larger A320, while Bombardier designed the A220 specifically for that segment.
Story corrected on 21 January to note the correct number of A319s still on order with Airbus.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
