Air France has introduced its very first Airbus A220 into commercial service on Sunday, 31st October.
The first flight of the brand new aircraft took off in the morning from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), heading to Berlin Brandenburg (BER), its first destination, before flying back to Paris. A second trip was operated to Venice and back. Further routes to be served by the A220 include Barcelona, Madrid and Milan. More routes will follow as Air France receives more aircraft.
The Frech flag-carrier recently received its first A220-300 from Airbus in Mirabel, Canada. Air France-KLM has orders for a total of 60 jets. It will use the new planes to replace older Airbus A318 and A319. The company has also expressed interest in a stretched A220-500 version, which could replace the older A320.
Air France has equipped its A220 with Wi-Fi as well as USB-A and USB-C charging ports at every seat. Compared to the types it replaces, the A220, uses less fuel, emits less CO2 and noticeably less noise, and has wider seats as well as larger windows. There are a total of 148 seats installed on the jet, in a 2-3 row layout – typical for the type.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
