 |
| The maiden flight of Airbus’ first A320neo equipped with CFM International LEAP-1A engines, which was performed Feb. 9, 2016. Photo: Airbus |
[Avionics Today 02-10-2016] The first A321neo equipped with CFM International LEAP-1A engines completed its maiden flight on Feb.9 from Hamburg, Germany. The flight lasted more than five hours, during which the Airbus team conducted tests to establish engine speed variation (low/high), systems behavior, and to validate the aircraft’s flight envelope. The A321neo will join the NEO flight test fleet and perform a partial flight test program to validate the impact on handling qualities, performance and systems. The first A321neo will be delivered at the end of 2016.
The A320neo flight test campaign has accumulated some 1,900 flight hours in more than 640 flights since the first flight on Sept. 25, 2014.