Airbus enters NBAA-BACE 2022 with renewed optimism for the U.S. business jet market, particularly ACJ TwoTwenty, the company’s large-cabin business jet based on the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G-powered A220 airliner. Airbus Corporate Jets president Benoit Defforge said the first of his ACJ TwoTwenty is due to be delivered early next year from Comlux, the only completion center in Indianapolis, and Airbus will deliver four to six of his in the next few years. It marks the start of production where we plan to reserve slots. .
talk to Ein Shortly before the show, Deforge predicted that it would eventually reach 8-10 deliveries per year, thanks to projected demand, mainly from the US. In fact, Airbus executives called him ACJ TwoTwenty. It is a “North American Airplane” designed to be ideally suited for the North American market.
Drawing launch customers from Dubai, TwoTwenty has already proven its global appeal despite some criticism that its 5,600 nm range will not allow direct flights from the Middle East to the West Coast of the US. But Deforge said in conversations with potential customers that even a cabin with twice the floor space, which Airbus sees as a direct competitor to TwoTwenty, would fly such long distances. He pointed out that few people would want to.
“Every customer I met said no, they never fly direct from the Middle East to Los Angeles,” he explained. “I’d rather stop in Paris or London.” Spend the night there, go shopping, then go to the second leg. [range]but it’s kind of an incredible fight to me, and almost no one uses this range of fights.
Defforge cited Airbus analysis showing that of the 16,000 segments flown by business jets capable of flying 5,500 nm in the second quarter of 2019, only 3% traveled beyond that range. Yes, some customers require him to fly above 5,500 nm. A lot of point-to-point goes beyond that, so if you go down to 4,500 nm, you’re dead,” he asserted. “When you reach 5,500 nm, you have the perfect range. I’m not saying that you can meet 100% of your needs. I’m saying that you can meet more than 95% of your needs.”
While Deforge acknowledged that long-range, faster, larger-cabin competitors such as Gulfstream and Falcon have the edge, he sees the difference between these aircraft and the ACJ 2Twenty as Rolls-Royce cars and Ferrari’s. I compared it to the difference. “I’m not saying Rolls-Royce is better than Ferrari. I’m just saying they offer a different experience overall.”
ACJ TwoTwenty has 786 square feet of floor space with six cabin zones of 130 square feet each. Certified to carry the same 19 passengers as the competing large-cabin BizJet, the TwoTwenty offers what Airbus calls unrivaled. Comfort and freedom of layout.
“It really makes a difference when you arrive at the end of your journey,” says Defforge. “There’s a real bedroom. For example, if the CEO of a company has a team, the CEO puts the office/bedroom in the back and has a real bathroom. And if you want to fly 10 hours, the team can sleep very comfortably. In that case 8, 10 or 12 people fly with a personal assistant, which works very well with our aircraft.”
From an economic standpoint, Defforge noted that ACJ TwoTwenty would benefit greatly from the pricing power Airbus derives from its bulk airline business. He explained that he benefits from ample spare parts and maintenance capabilities, adding that TwoTwenty tires cost him a tenth of what a typical business jet does. On the other hand, the facts that speak to the operational and design maturity of the Airbus jet speak to the operational and design maturity of the Airbus jet.
Airbus hasn’t released a list price for the ACJ TwoTwenty, so we’ll only say that Defforge compares favorably with alternatives. That puts it in the $70 million range.
He added that the company’s decision to rely on a single partner for the interior also helps keep costs low and flatten the so-called learning curve. will not be sold as green planes. Instead, he offers customers a choice of over 100 predefined layouts from his Comlux facility in Indianapolis.
Defforge, on the other hand, rejected suggestions that customers might object to the lack of a complete center option. “At the end of the day, this is his ACJ and we are responsible for it,” he said. “It would have been different if it wasn’t for the package aircraft and the cabin…if I were to sell you an eco-friendly aircraft and you said you would take care of the cabin yourself, you would have one outfitting center. I only have one. It must have been difficult.”
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