Industry Airbus delivers 1,000th A320neo Family aircraft

At Airbus´ production site in Hambug-Finkenwerder, the 1000th A320neo Family aircraft was officially handed over to carrier IndiGo. This delivery marks another milestone for the manufacturer. Its A320neo programme is one of the most popular aircraft families ever and this delivery underlines this.

The first delivery of an A320neo aircraft was celebrated only nearly four years ago in January 2016. Since then, Airbus has ramped up deliveries and has added new production sites. The manufacturer is currently building A320neo aircraft in Toulouse, France; Hamburg, Germany, Tianjin, China and Mobile, USA.

Every year after the first delivery in 2016, Airbus was able to celebrate a new milestone. In 2017, the first A321neo was delivered, in 2018 the first A321LR and this year, Airbus announced the introduction of the new A321XLR programme.

Airbus´ vision on the A320neo Family was to sell an aircraft that is much more efficient when compared to older-generation aircraft families. “NEO” stands for New-Engine-Option and allows operators to benefit from new high-bypass ratio engines that deliver up to 20% of reduced fuel burn. In addition with aerodynamical advantages, the A320neo Family makes 50% less noise compared to previous generation aircraft.

Airbus wrote in a statement: "Since its first NEO was delivered in March 2016, its fleet of A320neo Family has grown into the world’s largest with 96 aircraft operating alongside 129 A320s. In an extremely competitive aviation market, the fuel efficient A320 Family has been instrumental in IndiGo’s rise to become India’s largest airline by fleet size and passenger numbers."

Airbus stated that the A320neo Family features the widest single-aisle cabin in the sky and incorporates latest technologies onboard with new generation engines and Sharklets. Currently, Airbus has received more than 6,660 firm orders from nearly 110 worldwide customers. This underlines the presence the aircraft family will develop over the coming years.

 Main competitor Boeing is still working on the problems with its 737 MAX, meaning that Airbus can expand its advantage in the battle for the most-used middle-haul aircraft.

Customer of A320neo Family aircraft 1000 is IndiGo. The low-cost carrier from India is the world´s biggest customer for the A320neo Family and currently holds orders of 430 aircraft. The carrier is one of the largest airlines in the country and an essential partner for Airbus.