The first Airbus A220-300 destined for JetBlue Airways completed its test flight yesterday at Mobile’s Brookley Airplex and is ready for delivery before the end of the year.
The aircraft sports JetBlue’s new “Hops” livery, names for the airline’s plan of making a long journey in a series of small hops.
JetBlue has ordered 70 of the fuel-efficient single-aisle aircraft, which also boasts reduced noise and NOx emissions.
To date, about 130 of the A220 craft are in service in Asia, Europe and Africa, as well as the Americas.
Airbus, based in Europe, has operated a final assembly line for the larger A320 family of aircraft in Mobile for five years and has delivered 180 of those craft, which have flown some 60 million passengers for about 500 million miles.
It opened the second final assembly line for A220 aircraft this year.
