New York City-based JetBlue Airways (www.jetblue.com) firmed up an order for 60 Airbus (www.airbus.com) A220-300 aircraft at the end of December.

The largest aircraft in the A220 range, they will be built in a new plant in Mobile, Alabama, that will be located next to the existing Airbus A320 assembly facility.

Construction is due to begin this month.

Robin Hayes, JetBlue CEO, said: “As we approach our 20th anniversary, the impressive range and economics of the highly efficient A220, combined with the outstanding performance of our existing fleet of Airbus A321 and restyled A320 aircraft, will help to ensure that we deliver the best onboard experience to customers and meet our long-term financial targets.”

JetBlue’s existing Airbus fleet includes 193 A320 and A321ceo aircraft, with an additional 85 A321neo aircraft on order. The A220 is the only aircraft purpose-built for the 100- to 150-seat market; it brings together ‘state of the art’ aerodynamics, advanced materials and Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation PW1500G geared-turbofan engines to offer at least 20% lower fuel burn per seat than previous-generation aircraft.

With a range of 5,020km, the A220 offers the performance of larger single-aisle aircraft; and with an order book of more than 500 aircraft to date, it has all the credentials to win the lion’s share of the 100- to 150-seat aircraft market, which is expected to comprise at least 7,000 aircraft over the next 20 years.