Commercial Aviation 2016 Highlights

After an 11th-hour change of launch operator, the reengined Airbus A320neo entered service with Lufthansa in January, powered by the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turboban. The CFM International Leap 1A-powered version followed into airline service in June. The A321neo, meanwhile, entered flight testing in February.

Reengined with CFM International’s Leap 1B turbofan, Boeing’s reengined 737 MAX flew for the first time on Jan. 29. The initial 737-8 variant could enter service with launch customer Southwest Airlines as early as March 2017, instead of the third quarter as originally scheduled.

The first Airbus produced in the U.S., an A321 for JetBlue Airways, made its flight from the Mobile, Alabama, final-assembly plant on March 21. The aircraft entered service in April. The Mobile facility opened in September 2015, joining A320 assembly lines in Hamburg, Toulouse and Tianjin, China.

United Airlines began the first commercial-scale use of biofuel on regular scheduled flights in May, using synthetic kerosene supplied to Los Angeles International Airport by AltAir Fuels under a three-year contract to purchase up to 15 million gal. of jet fuel made from tallow.

Embraer flew the E190-E2 on May 23. It is the first of the Brazilian manufacturer’s second-generation E-Jet E2 large regional airliner family. The E190-E2 has a new wing with higher aspect ratio for lower drag, Pratt & Whitney PW1900G geared turbofans and full-time fly-by-wire flight controls.

Russia’s MC-21 narrowbody airliner was rolled out by United Aircraft Corp. company Irkut on June 8. The baseline 211-seat MC-21-300 is expected to fly early in 2017, powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1400G geared turbofans. The aircraft is scheduled to enter service with Aeroflot at the end of 2018.

Comac’s AR21-700 entered service in June with Chengdu Airlines, a subsidiary of the Chinese aircraft manufacturer, 14 years after development was launched and 18 months after the Civil Aviation Administration of China certified the type.

The first of Bombardier’s C Series family, the CS100, entered service with launch customer Swiss International Air Lines in July. The milestone followed an April order from Delta Air Lines for 75 CS100s, plus 50 options. In June, Air Canada finalized an order for 45 firm and 30 option CS300s.

China and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement in July to codevelop the Long-Range Widebody Commercial Aircraft. Comac and United Aircraft Corp. plan to develop the 280-seat, 7,500-nm-range twinjet for entry into service in 2027. Final assembly will take place in Shanghai.

The U.S. government In September granted Airbus and Boeing licenses to export commercial aircraft to Iran, after that nation reached agreement in 2015 with the U.S. and other countries about its nuclear program. Iran Air signed agreements for 118 Airbus A320s,  A330s,  A350s and A380s and 109 Boeing 737s and 777s.

In October, 191 member states of the International Civil Aviation Organization reached agreement on a carbon offsetting scheme scheduled to take effect in 2021; participation will be voluntary initially. The plan is expected to enable carbon-neutral growth in international flights beginning around 2024.

The second member of Airbus’s A350 family, the stretched 360-seat A350-1000, made its first flight from Toulouse on Nov. 24. First delivery to launch customer Qatar Airways is planned at the end of 2017.

The first Bombardier CS300 was delivered to launch customer AirBaltic in Latvia on Nov. 30., with commercial service planned to begin in December with Riga-Amsterdam flights. The airline has ordered 20 of the 145-seat aircraft.