- The
- The CS100 is now the A220-100, while the CS300 has been renamed the A220-300.
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Airbus has taken over and renamed the Canadian jet that Boeing tried to keep out of the US
The Bombardier C Series has been renamed the Airbus A220. Airbus this month completed the takeover of the financially challenged C Series program from Bombardier and the Quebec government. Airbus is expected to build some of the planes in Mobile, Alabama.
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On Tuesday, the Canadian airliner was officially renamed the Airbus A220 in a ceremony at the European airplane maker's headquarters in Toulouse, France.
"Everyone at Airbus has been looking forward to this historic moment," Guillaume Faury, the president of Airbus' commercial-aircraft division, said in a statement. "Today, we are thrilled to welcome the A220 to the Airbus family and are honored to see it wearing its new Airbus colors for the first time."
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Faury also praised the hard work put in by employees of Bombardier, based in Quebec, to bring the 100-to-150-seat A220 to market.
The A220 will continue to be available in two variants: The CS100 is now the A220-100, while the larger CS300 is now the A220-300.
This is the second time the aircraft has been renamed. Before the CS100 and CS300 designations, the planes were known as the CS110 and the CS130.
Earlier this month, Airbus completed a deal to acquire 50.1% of the financially challenged C Series program, with Bombardier and the Quebec government remaining minority shareholders. Airbus made no up-front financial investment in the C Series but will provide its procurement, marketing, sales, and customer-support expertise.
Airbus also indicated that A220 production would take place at its plant in Mobile, Alabama.
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When the deal was announced in October, Bombardier was mired in a trade dispute with Boeing and under threat from a proposed 299.45% tariff by the US Commerce Department.
The dispute came about when Boeing alleged that its business was unfairly hurt by low prices Delta received in its 2016 order for 75 C Series jets and that those prices were possible only with the assistance of Canadian government subsidies.
In January, the US International Trade Commission struck the down the proposed tariff, ending the dispute.
The A220 moniker allows Airbus to market the C Series with a name that's in line with the rest of its lineup.
The renaming of an airliner is far from a common occurrence, but it has happened before. Following Boeing's 1997 merger with McDonnell Douglas, the MD-95 became the Boeing 717-200.
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The Airbus A220 is in operation with Swiss International Air Lines, airBaltic, and Korean Air.
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