Airbus A320ceo vs Airbus A320neo

The Airbus A320ceo and A320neo are the same airframe with different engines and wingtips, and the "ceo" label, for current engine option, was invented in 2010 only to tell the original from the new. The A320 entered service with Air France in 1988 as the first fly-by-wire airliner, with CFM56-5 or IAE V2500 engines, and more than 4,700 of the original version were built. The A320neo, for new engine option, entered service with Lufthansa in January 2016 with Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turbofans or CFM LEAP-1A engines, Sharklet wingtips as standard and cabin changes, delivering a fuel-burn cut Airbus puts at 15 to 20% per seat and an extra 500 nautical miles of range, to about 3,500.

The neo's engines are much larger in diameter, which is the main external change, and the aircraft keeps the ceo's cockpit and type rating, so pilots move across with a short course. The neo's geared turbofans delivered the efficiency promised but have been troublesome: early reliability problems were followed from 2023 by a powder-metal contamination issue that forced inspections and grounded hundreds of PW1100G-powered aircraft at a time. The ceo, built until 2021, remains the backbone of airlines worldwide and of the used and lease markets, and many are being converted to freighters.

Passenger experience

The cabins are the same width and both are 3-3 with seats about 18 inches wide, the widest in the single-aisle class. New-build neos have the Airspace cabin with larger bins, slimmer sidewalls and LED mood lighting, and some operators have retrofitted it to ceos; older ceos carry smaller bins and a dimmer interior. The neo is noticeably quieter, especially in the rear rows beside the engines. Airbus's Space-Flex rear galley and lavatory arrangement, common on neos, lets airlines fit an extra row, so pitch can be a little tighter. For the best seat on either, an exit row or a window ahead of the wing is the choice; the last row by the rear galley is the one to avoid.

Which to choose

For airlines the neo is the better aircraft and the ceo the cheaper one, and both will fly for decades. For passengers the neo is quieter with a newer cabin and otherwise identical, so a refurbished ceo gives up little.