Airbus A220 Family and Limitations

The Airbus A220 is a family of two twin-engined airliners built on one type certificate: the A220-100, type certificate model BD-500-1A10, and the longer A220-300, model BD-500-1A11. Bombardier designed them as the CSeries, the CS100 and the CS300. The certificate is now held by Airbus Canada Limited Partnership, Mirabel, Québec, with Transport Canada (TCCA) as the certifying authority, and pilots fly both models on a single type rating, BD500.

The two models differ mainly in length, weights and capacity; most of their limitations are common to both. This article sets out the differences and the limitations a type-rating candidate is expected to know, from the EASA type-certificate data sheet (TCDS) EASA.IM.A.570, the TCCA operational evaluation report, the FAA Flight Standardization Board (FSB) report and the Airbus Aircraft Characteristics. The flight manual (AFM) of each aircraft remains the operating reference. The flight deck is described in A220 flight deck and avionics and the engines in A220 engines; the general definitions are in maximum structural and regulated masses and structural and operating speed limits.

From CSeries to A220

Bombardier launched the CSeries on 13 July 2008. The CS100 first flew on 16 September 2013 and the CS300 on 27 February 2015. In July 2018 Airbus acquired a majority stake and the CSeries was rebranded A220, but the type certificate models stayed the same: the EASA TCDS simply records a commercial designation for each.

The certificate, first held by Bombardier, has been held by Airbus Canada since 2019; the earlier steps are traced in A220 flight deck and avionics. The pilot type rating did not change with the names either: TCCA and the FAA both give BD500 for the two models, which are related aircraft on the same type certificate.

The two models

The A220-300 is the stretched model. TCCA's difference table puts the extra length at 12 ft 3 in, while the wing is the same:

The ESDU wing area includes the ailerons, flaps and spoilers and the part of the wing within the fuselage. The engine list makes one difference worth remembering: the lowest thrust rating, the PW1519G, with 8,796 daN (19,775 lbf) of take-off thrust, is approved for the A220-100 only, and the FAA FSB report agrees.

The TCDS describes the airframe as built from advanced weight-saving materials, carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) and advanced aluminium alloys, with steel alloys and titanium also used. Rücker and Scholz compare the A220-300 with the A319neo: its range of 3,400 NM (6,297 km) is 8.1 % less than the A319neo's 3,700 NM (6,850 km), and its MTOW of 70.9 t is 6.1 % below the A319neo's 75.5 t.

For pilots, the differences are small. TCCA sets Level A differences training and checking between the A220-100 and the A220-300: a pilot differences handout is enough, no differences check is required, and currency on either model counts for the other. The FAA FSB report sets the same training at Level B.

Cabin, cargo and occupants

The economy cabin is five abreast. Rücker and Scholz give 18.5 in economy seats, a wider 19.0 in middle seat and a 20.0 in aisle. Below the floor, two cargo compartments, forward and aft, each have their own outward-opening door and are sealed to meet the requirements of a Class C compartment, with provisions for lighting, smoke detection and fire extinguishing. The two cargo doors are identical semi-plug doors, hinged along their top edge and opened and closed electrically from a switch panel on the fuselage near each door.

The occupant figures also count the pilot, the co-pilot, the observer and the cabin crew, so they should not be confused with the MPSC. The minimum of three cabin crew follows from the emergency evacuation test, and the TCDS tables allow a maximum of five. One configuration stands apart: an A220-100 with the Basic Airbus Corporate Jet (ACJ) modifications and no approved interior may carry only three occupants, the pilot, the co-pilot and the observer, all in the cockpit, with no cabin crew and an MPSC of 0.

Doors and emergency exits

The Airbus Aircraft Characteristics list seven emergency exits:

• Passenger doors 1L and 2L and service doors 1R and 2R: semi-plug, Type C floor-level exits that move outwards on a hinged arm, each with an evacuation slide because of the sill height. Door 1L is the primary entrance.
• Two overwing exits, one each side: Type III semi-plug doors that rotate upwards on a hinged arm, helped by stored energy, with an off-wing slide.
• The flight crew escape hatch: a single overhead hatch on the fuselage centreline, forward of the flight compartment bulkhead, which opens inwards and can be removed from its hinges once fully open. An escape rope is provided.

On the A220-300, option C25631002 replaces the single-lane off-wing slide with a dual-lane one, which makes the overwing exit pair an over-performing Type III pair and raises the MPSC from 145 to 149 under an EASA equivalent safety finding (D-27). A full-scale evacuation was demonstrated on the CS100 on 14 December 2014; for the A220-300 the FAA FSB report records that compliance was shown by analysis, based on 145 seats and a single overwing exit per wing.

The MMEL lists further evacuation aids: four overwing and four door exterior emergency lights, eight aisle overhead emergency lights and a photoluminescent floor proximity escape path marking. The enhanced flight deck security door has two locking systems: the Flight Deck Remote Access System (FDRAS) as primary, and a manual latch as secondary. The general principles are in doors, emergency exits and escape slides.

Weight limits

The first four rows are the certified weights of the EASA TCDS. The A220-300 figures have changed over the life of the certificate: its MTOW and maximum ramp weight were updated in TCDS Issue 14 (March 2021), and its MLW and MZFW increased in Issue 24 (February 2026). For other approved weight variants the TCDS refers to the AFM. The TCDS gives no minimum flight weight; the figures in the last row come from the TCCA and FAA difference tables, and the Airbus Aircraft Characteristics agree. On both models the MLW is higher than the MZFW. The MTOW is a structural limit; the take-off weight allowed on a given day may be lower, as explained in maximum structural and regulated masses.

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Speed and altitude limits

The airspeed limits in the TCDS are the same for both models:

VMO is an indicated airspeed; above 27,500 ft the limit becomes a Mach number, MMO. The TCDS table has no line for the band between 8,000 and 10,000 ft, so it gives no VMO there. The flap limit speeds (VFE) are placarded on the pedestal: the placard photographed in an airBaltic A220-300 gives 230 kt at slat/flap position 1, 210 kt at 2 and 3, 190 kt at 4 and 170 kt at 5.

The maximum operating altitude en route is 41,000 ft (12,497 m) for both models. Take-off and landing are limited to an altitude of 8,000 ft (2,438 m); aircraft fitted with SB BD500-314004 or Mod 314004 may take off and land up to 10,000 ft (3,050 m). TCCA identifies that change as the avionics software v5.6 (Build 8.0A2) upgrade, which addresses high-altitude airport operations.

The engine limits are listed in A220 engines.

Other operating limitations

TCCA and the FAA both class the A220-100 and the A220-300 in approach category C, from the approach speed at maximum landing weight in flap 4 or 5. Circling is flown with the gear down, flap 4 or 5, at VREF + 10 kt, and the minima are never below category C (see circling and visual approaches).

The glide path is a limitation in its own right. TCCA records that the A220 was originally certified to land from a final glide path of at most 3.5°, and AFM supplements extend it:

Supplement 10 is for the A220-100 only: the steep approach special condition appears only in the BD-500-1A10 section of the EASA TCDS, and TCCA states that the A220-300 is not type certified for steep approach. Supplement 11 applies to both models fitted with the modification. A Supplement 11 approach, evaluated by TCCA in May 2020, adds its own limitations: VREF, VAC and VGA increased by 5 kt, FLAPS 5 landings only (FLAPS 4 or 5 are the normal final approach settings otherwise), a tailwind component of at most 5 kt measured at 10 m (33 ft), no autopilot below 200 ft AGL, and only approaches with vertical path guidance such as ILS, LPV or PAPI. After any failure that requires a landing flap setting other than FLAPS 5, the approach is not started, or a go-around is flown.

Approved operations and crew

Section 12.1 of the TCDS lists VFR and IFR flight, flight in icing conditions and ditching, and low weather minima of CAT I, CAT II, CAT III with a decision height of 50 ft and CAT III with no decision height; operators still need their own authority's approval for low visibility operations (see low visibility operations). For take-off, TCCA found the aircraft capable of operating down to an RVR of 600 ft (175 m) without the optional head-up display, and 300 ft (75 m) with its low visibility take-off function. Ditching is approved for both models, except an A220-100 configured with the Basic ACJ modifications, unless it carries the required ditching equipment.

For extended operations, the TCDS ETOPS tables list 120 and 180 minute design approvals for every listed engine on both models, when the aircraft is configured to the ETOPS CMP document. That finding is not an approval to conduct ETOPS, which the operator's own authority must grant (see ETOPS and extended diversion time operations).

The minimum flight crew is two, a pilot and a co-pilot, for both models; the FAA FSB report notes that no flight engineer is required, and the observer seat is additional to the minimum crew.

The A220's systems have their own articles, such as A220 landing gear, brakes and steering and A220 air conditioning, pressurisation and oxygen; other families are described in Embraer E-Jet family and flight deck and Boeing 787 family and flight deck.

Library articles are written for study and exam preparation. They do not replace your aircraft's approved documentation, your operator's procedures or the regulations themselves.