Airbus is set to invest more than €1 billion in its A220 program this year, its chief executive, Guillaume Faury, has announced.
The news comes after the European planemaker bought Bombardier’s remaining stake in the program earlier this month to raise its share from 50.1 per cent to 75 per cent.
With this deal, Canadian manufacturer Bombardier exited the civil aviation industry and bolstered the European planemaker’s position in its ongoing competition with US rival Boeing.
The A220, previously known as the CSeries, is a 110-130-seater aircraft, a little smaller than Airbus’ mainstay A320 jet.
Airbus has been ramping up production of the A220 towards its maximum monthly capacity rate of 10 at its facility in Mirabel and to a monthly rate of four in Mobile, Alabama – targets it hopes to reach by the middle of this decade.
Production in the US has become more important for Airbus since the US government slapped tariffs on jets made in Europe for purchase by US airlines following a years-long tariff dispute.
Airbus describes the A220 series as representing “the most efficient aircraft in the skies in their class, with low operating costs and the lowest noise levels of any commercial jet in production”.
Additional reporting by airlinerwatch.com
