CHINA SOUTHERN Airlines became the first commercial carrier to receive the Airbus A319neo. The Guangzhou-based firm took simultaneous delivery of two, 136-seat examples, which are understood to be China Southern’s sole commitments for the re-engined type. On February 18, the narrowbody jets, B-328A (c/n 10239) – pictured undertaking its first flight back on August 2, 2021 – and B-328C (c/n 10288), left the European airframer’s Hamburg/Finkenwerder production site one after the other bound for Guangzhou’s Baiyun gateway via a technical stop at Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan.
According to ch-aviation, China Southern intends to deploy the A319neo on fare-paying rotations from July of this year, with a particular focus on services to/from airports that are characterised by hot and/ or high operating conditions. Airbus performance data shows the type has a 3,700nm range and a maximum take-off and landing weight of 75.50 and 63.90 tonnes, respectively.