Marking the start of testing for second engine choice

The first A320neo equipped with CFM International LEAP-1A engines completed its maiden flight today in Toulouse, France. The aircraft, registration F-WNEW, was flown by Experimental Test Pilots Philippe Perrin and Malcolm Ridley. Accompanying them in the cockpit was Test-Flight Engineer Jean-Michel Pin and monitoring the progress of the flight profile were the Flight-Test Engineers Tuan Do and Philippe Pupin. The flight lasted 4 hours and 25 minutes during which tests were performed to validate the aircraft’s flight envelope up to the maximum altitude (39,000ft) and test the engine speed variation (low/high) in addition to checking systems behaviour.

“Today marks yet another important step forward in the development of the A320neo and I would like to warmly thank all the teams who made this first flight happen,” said Klaus Roewe, Head of the A320 Programme. “With the second NEO engine now taking to the skies, we are progressing well towards fulfilling our objective to offer our customers an engine choice for a product at the cutting edge of competitiveness.”

The newest member of the A320 Family, the A320neo, incorporates many innovations including latest generation engines, Sharklet wing tip devices and cabin improvements, which together will deliver up to 20 percent in fuel savings by 2020.The flight test campaign of the A320neo has accumulated more than 400 flight hours in around 130 flights since first flight on 25th September 2014.

Airbus press release