Airbus is planning a further performance tweak to the A220 family by increasing the maximum zero-fuel weight and maximum landing weight of the twinjet.
A220 programme manager Florent Massou tells FlightGlobal that the change will be introduced as an option on both variants of the aircraft – the -100 and -300 – in 2022, subject to regulatory approval.
He says both maximum weight thresholds will be increased by just over 1.8t and that this will provide “operational flexibility” through additional payload capability.
The current maximum zero-fuel weight for the -100 is 50.3t while that for the -300 is 55.8t.
Their maximum landing weights are respectively 52.4t and 58.7t.
Airbus is already planning to certify the A220-300 in the second half of this year with a higher maximum take-off weight of nearly 69.9t. This will provide a 450nm hike in range to 3,350nm.
It will apply the same MTOW increase to the smaller -100, raising it to just over 63t, from the second half of 2021.
