What Is The Airbus Corporate Jets Business Segment?

Airbus is primarily known for its range of commercial passenger aircraft, spanning from the single-aisle A220 (formerly the Bombardier CSeries) to the mammoth A380 double-decker. In fact, having consistently outperformed rival Boeing in terms of orders and deliveries for the past half-decade (not to mention Boeing’s ongoing safety and production troubles), it could be fair to name Airbus as the world’s top commercial aircraft producer at this point in time.

However, the European planemaker also has a separate division that designs and manufactures large business jets, called Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ). With Boeing launching its own Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) range in 1996, Airbus followed a year later with its ACJ program, starting with a modified Airbus A319 passenger jet. Less than three decades later, Airbus offers several ACJ models to suit customers of varying needs and has sold over 200 corporate jets.

Photo: InsectWorld | Shutterstock

The manufacturer continues to develop new business jets, including its ACJ TwoTwenty based on the A220-100. Let’s explore the Airbus Corporate Jets program and what the future holds.

Airbus Corporate Jets history

Airbus formally launched its Airbus Corporate Jets venture in 1997, but it would be a couple of years before it delivered the first business jet. The first aircraft in the ACJ range was the Airbus ACJ319, which was of a similar size to the newly released Boeing BBJ1 (based on the 737-700) but considerably bigger than other large private jet models available at the time, such as the Gulfstream V or the Dassault Falcon 900EX. Let’s see how the original ACJ sized up to other large business jets of its era:

With a much more spacious cabin and room for customization, the ACJ was particularly appealing as a VIP jet. Indeed, it saw heavy usage in its early days by European government officials and still holds the crown for most sales at 77 units. Its impressive range of 6,000 NM was also a big draw, allowing intercontinental travel on many key city pairings worldwide. While typical configurations would seat up to 19 passengers, the size of the jet ultimately enabled configurations that could accommodate far more passengers.

Expanding the line

With the success of the original ACJ319, in 2002, the ACJ320 – based on its popular A320-200 – officially entered service and would soon be followed up two years later by the smaller ACJ318 model. The ACJ320 was even larger than the ACJ319, offering approximately 96 square meters (1,030 square feet) of cabin space which translated to more interior customization possibilities.

Photo: InsectWorld | Shutterstock

As for the more compact ACJ318, it has a considerably shorter range of around 4,200 NM but was designed with short-to-medium haul segments in mind, allowing for more economical journeys on shorter routes.

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Soon after, Airbus’ longer A321 airframe would become available as a corporate jet, delivering even more space and range. However, by the mid-2000s, Airbus had its eye on even larger aircraft by looking to its widebody commercial portfolio.

Widebody breakthrough

With demand for larger private aircraft still evident, Airbus unveiled its first widebody corporate jet offerings in 2007 with the ACJ330 and ACJ340. These were game-changers for its corporate line, offering ultra-long-haul range and unprecedented cabin space for VIPs and high-net-worth customers.

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First came the ACJ330 in 2007, followed by the ACJ340 a year later. The latter represented the largest cabin in the ACJ portfolio at 257 square meters (2,766 square feet), but would be eclipsed by the ACJ350 which was released in 2014. Things could have been different if Airbus had followed through on plans to develop a private A380 jet for a Saudi prince, but this ultimately didn’t materialize.

ACJ latest

Airbus has updated its corporate jet range to incorporate its newest engine options, starting with the ACJ319neo and ACJ320neo in 2015 before rolling out the ACJ330neo in 2018. It has already delivered two airframes of its newest corporate jet in the range, dubbed the ACJ TwoTwenty, in partnership with charter firm Comlux, which has an exclusive agreement with Airbus to fit out the first 17 jets.

Photo: Airbus SAS 2023

The A220-100 derivative was first announced in 2020 and has so far attracted just eight firm orders. Airbus has placed the ACJ TwoTwenty into its own size category, the ‘extra-large bizjet,’ offering 5,650 NM in range with a list price of $83 million.

Have you ever flown on an Airbus Corporate Jet? Let us know your stories in the comments.