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Airbus shows off rebranded A220 airliners

Ahead of the 2018 Farnborough Airshow, Airbus assigns new names to the Bombardier CS100 and CS300 airliners.

Kent German Former senior managing editor / features
Kent was a senior managing editor at CNET News. A veteran of CNET since 2003, he reviewed the first iPhone and worked in both the London and San Francisco offices. When not working, he's planning his next vacation, walking his dog or watching planes land at the airport (yes, really).
Kent German
2 min read
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The new Airbus A220 flies near the company's headquarters in Toulouse, France.

Airbus

Christmas for aviation geeks really does come in July this year when the Farnborough Airshow opens next week in England. One of the premier industry events in the industry, Farnborough takes place every even-numbered year, alternating between that other air show granddaddy held in Paris.

Set at Farnborough Airport about 40 miles southwest of London, Farnborough may lack the atmosphere of the French capital, but it won't be short on aviation hoopla. Besides a few awesome airplane fly-bys, expect news on new aircraft and the airlines ordering them and the occasional bit that a company would prefer to slip quietly under the rug.

Watch this: Watch a Boeing 787 showcase incredible acrobatic stunts

Of course, it's also guaranteed that fierce rivals Boeing and Airbus will try to upstage each other with grand announcements. The latter got an early start Tuesday when it announced new names for a pair of existing airliners with the debut of the Airbus A220 family. 

Born out of the 2017 partnership between Airbus and Quebec-based Bombardier, the A220 jets are marketed by Airbus, but designed and built by Bombardier. The A220-100 is the former Bombardier CS100, which first flew in 2013, and the A220-300 is the former C300, which first flew in 2015. (See the gallery below for a look inside at CS300.). 

Take a stroll through Bombardier's stretched CS300 jet

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In typical configurations, the aircraft seat 108 and 130 passengers respectively. The CS100 is currently in service with Swiss Airlines and the CS300 flies with Air Baltic and Korean Air. Iin the US, Delta has placed a large order for the CS100 and JetBlue opted for the CS300 this week.

Boeing hasn't dropped major show-related news yet, though it did promise fly-bys of its 737 MAX 7 and 787 aircraft. But last week, the company said it would counter the Airbus-Bombardier alliance by acquiring 80 percent of Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer.

This eagle-faced jet is Embraer's biggest yet

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