Tailspec
Airliner Airbus

Airbus A320neo

Narrow-body, short-to-medium-range, twin-engine commercial jet

Airbus A320neo
Photo: Via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA / public domain (per Wikimedia))

The Airbus A320neo ("new engine option") is the re-engined fourth-generation update to the A320, the world's best-selling narrow-body family. Offering ~15% better fuel burn through new high-bypass engines and sharklet wingtips, it has become the dominant narrow-body in production by orders.

Specifications

First flight 2014-09-25
Entered service 2016-01-25
Production 2015–present
Crew 2 (flight deck)
Capacity 150 (2-class) to 194 (high-density)
Length 0 m
Wingspan 0 m
Height 0 m
MTOW 0 kg
Max speed 0 km/h
Cruise speed 0 km/h
Range 0 km
Service ceiling 0 m
Engines 2 × CFM LEAP-1A or Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turbofan

Fly it yourself

Which simulator handles this aircraft well, what to install, what it'll cost. Curated by an aerospace engineer who actually flies it.

MSFS

Microsoft Flight Simulator

FlyByWire A32NX (freeware) by FlyByWire Simulations
Free ⭐⭐⭐ Study-level

The de-facto standard A320 for MSFS. Open-source, study-level systems modeling, frequent updates. Better than most payware in any sim. The first thing to install for narrow-body flying.

X12

X-Plane 12

ToLiSS A321neo / A319neo by ToLiSS
$80 ⭐⭐⭐ Study-level

The benchmark A320-family payware for X-Plane. Highly accurate FBW logic and systems. Industry-standard reference in the X-Plane community.

TARMAC
PRINT
Airbus A320neo
TARMAC PRINT — minimalist aerospace blueprints

Take it home

Precision blueprint of the Airbus A320neo, drawn from primary spec data. Available as digital download (print at home) or print-on-demand.

$8 digital / $29 print
Coming soon

Releasing as part of the launch series. Want to be notified?

History

Airbus announced the A320neo program in December 2010, ahead of Boeing's 737 MAX response. First flight was on 25 September 2014, and Lufthansa took the launch delivery on 20 January 2016. By the mid-2020s, the A320neo family had accumulated more than 9,000 firm orders — the best-selling commercial aircraft program in history by a wide margin, ahead of the 737 MAX. The PW1100G geared turbofan introduced a major new engine architecture, while the CFM LEAP-1A offered evolutionary improvements over the CFM56.

Design

Externally, the A320neo differs from the A320ceo (current engine option) primarily in the larger-diameter engines and the standard sharklet wingtips, retrofitted to many ceo-generation aircraft as well. Internally, the cabin offers Airbus's Space-Flex galley/lavatory layouts and Smart-Lav configurations that increase usable seating. The flight deck remains common with the rest of the A320 family — a major operational advantage as airlines transition fleets. The geared turbofan PW1100G option uses a planetary gearbox between the fan and low-pressure turbine, allowing both to spin at their optimum speeds — a step-change architecture that took years to mature in service.

Variants

Notable operators

Notable

The A320neo family overtook the Boeing 737 in monthly deliveries during the 737 MAX grounding (2019–2020) and held the production lead for several years afterward. The A321XLR variant, certified in 2024, opened up transatlantic routes from secondary cities (e.g. Boston–Naples, New York–Marrakech) that were previously economically unviable on widebodies — reshaping long-haul network strategies for the late 2020s.

See also

Sources

Last updated: 2026-05-06