The first Airbus A319neo has taken to the skies with a maiden flight from Germany to France.

The smallest member of the A320neo family, powered by CFM International LEAP-1A engines, took off on March 30 from Hamburg and landed in Toulouse after a 5-hour flight.  

It was piloted by experimental test pilots Michel Gagneux and Eckard Hausser. They were assisted in the cockpit by test-flight engineer Jean Michel Pin, while two flight test engineers Sylvie Loisel-Labaste and David O’nions directed the flight from the aircraft’s test engineer station. 

This flight was the occasion for the crew to assess the general handling of the aircraft and to check the main systems. The A319neo, registered as D-AVWA, will be based in Toulouse in order to complete its flight test programme.

The A320neo family is the world’s best-selling single aisle product line with over 5,000 orders received from over 90 customers, capturing almost 60 per cent share of the market, according to Airbus. 

The A320neo family incorporates latest technologies including new generation engines and Sharklet wing tip devices, which together deliver more than 15 per cent in fuel savings from day one and 20 per cent by 2020, the manufacturer adds.

With one aircraft in three sizes ( A319neo, A320neo & A321neo), the A320neo family, seating from 100 to 240 passengers, covers the entire single-aisle segment from low to high-density domestic to longer range routes.

The smallest member of the A320neo family, the A319neo offers superior short field performance in hot and high conditions and can accommodate up to 160 passengers.

Airbus has so far received eight orders for the corporate jet version of the family – two ACJ319neo’s and six ACJ320neo’s.

Planed first deliveries of the corporate jet versions are Q4 2018 for the ACJ320neo and Q2 2019 for the ACJ319neo.