Airbus Corporate Jets has sold another A319neo to take its new-engine option order tally to nine, three for the ACJ319neo and six for the ACJ320neo. The newest customer is based in Asia and is “trading up from a traditional business jet,” said Airbus. The “new engine” will be either the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G Geared Turbofan or CFM International’s LEAP-1A, as opposed to the CFM56 or IAE2500s that power so-called ceo (current engine option) A320 family.

The other ACJneo orders have been from Acropolis Aviation, Comlux and K5 Aviation and some as-yet undisclosed purchasers, said the company (Booth N4421).

John Leahy, Airbus chief operating officer-customers, said, “The ACJ320neo family capitalizes on the trend toward larger cabins in top-of-the-line business jets, while giving customers even more intercontinental range and efficiency in what is already a popular and airline-reliable performer.”

The aircraft can fly eight passengers up to 6,750 nm, “bringing much of the world within nonstop range,” said the European OEM. The larger ACJ320neo can fly 25 passengers up to 6,000 nm. ACJ320neo deliveries are due to begin in early 2018, with ACJ319neo deliveries due to start in second-quarter 2019.

Drawing on the latest sale, Airbus noted that its bizliner can operate off a similar-sized runway as traditional wide-cabin business jets, but with a “much higher available takeoff weight” and “three times the cabin space” for a similar footprint.

The Airbus bizliners also have good residual values, with only 3 percent of the ACJ fleet being on the second-hand market versus 10 percent for what it terms traditional business jets, although the latter represents a far larger fleet. Airbus also offers the new Infinito cabin design by Pagani for the ACJ319neo, the cabin being unveiled at this year’s EBACE show.

Meanwhile, the A330neo, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, is “within days of its first flight,” Airbus reported. The company has started to offer for sale the ACJ330neo, following the launch of the ACJ350 XWB in 2016.