A321 NEO takes off for the first test flight!
A321 NEO takes off for the first test flight! Today is one of the milestones for Airbus. The company’s most famous aircraft Airbus A321Neo meets the clouds for the first time. A321Noe is the newest next generation engined single-aisle aircraft. Airbus announced that the aircraft will airborne with 5 cabin crew and will be flying 5 and half an hour and it will undertake a "partial" flight-test program to examine specific aspects associated with the larger type's performance. The new aircraft has CFM International Leap-1A engines and the new engines performance will be tested. Airbus will also test Pratt & Whitney engines in the following weeks. There is a intense competition between CFM and P&W. CFM seems very ambitious. The company claims that the CFM engines for A320 family aircraft will have a start-up time for 50 seconds which will significantly contribute the fuel efficiency. As you may recall, Airbus delayed entry into servic...