The A319neo Struggles To Find A Niche

The A319 has been an important and successful member of the A320 family, especially in the early 2000s. It's successor, the A319neo, has not fared anywhere near as well with, depending on how you slice it, only 13 deliveries since 2021 and a tiny order backlog. In fact, currently it is only in service with a single airline (and several non-airline customers), although its second airline customer, Tibet Airlines, looks like it'll be receiving its first aircraft soon. What has changed and what's in store for the A319neo?

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The A319ceo proved very successful with 1,486 deliveries to date (technically two frames are still on order). It supplemented the larger A320 in many airline fleets and was the A320 family member of choice for several airlines, notably Easyjet. In 2005 142 A319s were delivered but by 2012 that had declined to only 38 and by 2016 just four. By then the A320neo was on the scene and the slow development of the A319neo by comparison indicates how the market has changed since the early 2000s.

The pendulum has swung very much from the A319/A320 to the larger A320/A321 with a definite trend of upgauging across the board - especially at low cost carriers such as EasyJet, which now has almost twice as many A320neos as A319s and is looking to retire the smaller type quite quickly. 40% of Easyjet's 97 A319s are scheduled to be gone by 2026.

The drive for the upgauging is the decreased seat mile costs offered by the larger Airbuses and to a lesser degree slot restrictions at some airports such as London and Lisbon. Additionally, the A321neo is now offering a far more capable platform than earlier A321s allowing airline's to switch the A320s into its former space while it tackles new longer range markets.

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It isn't just competition from within the A320 family line that is harming the A319neo either, as the A220 now overlaps the A319 with its series 300 version. It is lighter and more efficient than the A319. This isn't an Airbus only problem as Boeing has the same issues with the 737 MAX-7 in comparison to larger MAX variants, although slightly bolstered by Southwest Airlines. The A319neo to date has amassed only 92 orders and it would be somewhat surprising to see all of those honoured.

As an example of airline's changing their minds Air Cote D'Ivoire had a pair of A319neos on order but they have never materialised, unlike its A320neo. Arguably this lack of A319neos isn't an issue for Airbus at all it is selling either larger more expensive A320s/321s or smaller A220s, for a programme it really wants to succeed. It is not losing orders to Boeing after all - and the 737 MAX-7 itself is very much delayed.

​In terms of service entry there are currently single A319neos with private operators such as K5 Aviation, the Government of Uzbekistan, Jet Aviation Business Jets, Sino Jet and Global Jet Luxembourg. The only in service examples with an airline are 4 frames operating with China Southern Airlines.

​China Southern's aircraft are configured in a comfortable 3 class layout with 4 business seats, 24 premium economy and 108 economy. The aircraft appear to be being used around the CZ network rather fluidly, but with a focus on high-altitude destinations. In a sense the A319neo is now a niche product suitable the most for hot and high routes where its impressive performance is warranted. It is no surprise to see China Southern's A319s at places like Kathmandu and Urumqi.

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The hot and high performance characteristics are certainly a large part of why Tibet Airlines has at least four A319neos on order (one has seemingly been technically  delivered but remains at the Hamburg Finkenwerder factory). I wrote about Tibet Airlines way back in December 2015. For that piece see here:

Flying High: Tibet Airlines

It's a little hard to work out what is going on with the Tibet A319neos. Even the number on order seems different at various sites, partly due to the number of unconfirmed operator orders for China. The first aircraft, D-AVWP (to be B-329H) spent a long time on the ground without its CFM engines, probably due to supply chain issues at the engine manufacturer, but even after it received its engines in December or January it still remains in Hamburg.

Another pair of aircraft, B-000C (to be B-32AK) and B-007W have been assembled in China at the Tianjin plant but appear also to still be there. A fourth frame, currently registered D-AVWN, was photographed complete in April 2023 at Hamburg also.

Tibet Airlines Airbus A319-153NEO B-329H by Panda Models

Tibet Airlines has grown significantly since I wrote about it in 2015 and now has near 40 aircraft (a mix of A319s, A320s and A330s) with the majority being the A319. The failure to upgauge to more than a handfulof A320s indicates the high altitude destinations the carrier serves high up in the Tibetan plateau and for this specialist mission the A319neo seems a good fit.

Whether other airlines with A319neos on order (Air China, Sichuan Airlines and Spirit Airlines) recieve theirs in the future is, I feel, very much up for grabs, especially the order with the US LCC. Presumably service entry with Tibetan can't be far away but it seems clear that the A319neo will struggle to reach 100 aircraft deliveries as opposed to the near 1,500 of its ceo parent.

In 400 scale the A319neo has had decent representation as the models in this post illustrate. All three are by Panda Models, while NG Models themselves also made a China Southern example too.

References

2022, February. Airbus Delivers First A319neo To China Southern. Aviation Week
2022, October. Schuurman, R. Conflicting fortunes for Airbus A319neo. AirInsightGroup
2023, March. Pearson, J. easyJet Plans To Retire 40% Of Its Airbus A319s By 2026. Simple Flying
2023, May. Loh, C. Just 9 Active Airframes: Where The Airbus A319neo Is Flying In May 2023. Simple Flying