Airbus A320

Airbus A320 is the most successful and versatile passenger airliner of the narrow-body jet family. In the following article, AloTrip will share the most useful information about the A320.

Airbus A320 is a narrow-body commercial passenger aircraft designed and manufactured by Airbus. Variants of this family include the A318, A319, A320, A321 and the ACJ business jet airliner. Since the first aircraft was flown in 1987, the number of orders for the A320 exceeded 14,000 in 2017. Therefore, Airbus A320 has become the second best-selling aircraft in the world after Boeing 737.

Development

After the success of the A300 family, Airbus began to develop a new aircraft with the goal of replacing the Boeing 727 and variant of the Boeing 737. On 2 March 1984, the A320 was officially launched with the support of the French government.

Pan-American World Airways - a loyal Boeing’s customer became the first customer of Airbus with the order of 208 aircraft in September 1984. On 13 September, 63 aircraft squadrons would operate with the company.

In presence of 2000 guests and the Prince of Wales, Charles and Princess of Wales, Diana, the first A320 prototype was presented to the public in Toulouse on 14 February, 1987.  Its first flight made on 22 February, 1987.

On 18 April, 1988, Air France operated the A320 aircraft for the return flight between Paris and Berlin, via Düsseldorf.

Operational history

Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) issued the type certificate for the A320 aircraft on 26 February, 1988.

Airbus quickly expanded the A320 family including 185-seat A321 in 1989, 124-seat A319 in 1993, and 107-seat A318 in 1999.

- A320 has two variants: A320-100 and A320-200. The A320-200 is the final version due to only 21 A320-100s being produced. These aircraft were only delivered to Air France and British Airways.

- ACJ319 is the corporate jet version of the A319. It is used by a unit which is in charge of transportation for French officials. In 2003, an ACJ serves as a presidential or official aircraft of Brazil. Also, other airlines such as DaimlerChrysler, Reliance Industries and PrivatAir use this version.

- A319LR aircraft is featured with the entire 48-seat business class. Lufthansa has operated premium service routes between Germany and the United States. In addition, Qatar Airways has used A319LRs with 110 standard seats.

- The A321 is the first derivative A32 series.

- The A318 is the smallest member of the A320 family also known as "Mini-Airbus" or "baby 'bus". Its major customers are Air France: 18; Frontier Airlines: 10 (+ 1 order); LAN Chile: 20 orders; Mexicana: 10 and US Airways: 15 orders.

- The A318 Elite is a mid-range aircraft. CFM firm and Comlux Aviation are the first customers to order 3 A318 Elite.

- Airbus A320neo announced to enter advanced service from 2016. As of October, 2015, it received more than 300 orders. The 5000th A320 aircraft was delivered in January 2012.

- In 2014, Airbus expects to deliver the 10,000th A320 by 2021.

Specifications

Airbus A320

Subtype	A318	A319	A320	A321
Variants	4 (111, 112, 121 and 122)	8 (111 to 115, 131 to 133)	9 (111, 211, 212, 214-216, 231-233)	8 (111, 112, 131, 211-213, 231, 232)
Cockpit crew	Two
Seats: 2-class / 1-class / max	107/117/136	124/134/160	150/164/180	185/199/220
Length	31.45  m	33.84  m	37.57  m	44.51  m
Wingspan	34.10  m	34.10  m or 35.80 m
Height	12.79  m	11.76  m
Width cabin	3.70  m
Width fuselage	3.95  m
Empty weight	34.500  kg	35.400  kg	36.750  kg (-111), 37.230  kg	47.500  kg

Airbus A320neo

Subtype	A320N	A321N	A321NX
Variants	4 (251N, 252N, 271N, 272N)	5 (271N, 272N, 251N, 252N, 253N)	(271NX, 272NX, 251NX, 252NX, 253NX)
Cockpit crew	2
Seats: 2-class / 1-class / max	150/164/180	185/206/244
Length	37.57  m	44.51  m
Wingspan	35.80  m
Height	11.76  m
Width fuselage	3.95  m
Empty weight	40.300  kg	46.300  kg (-270) or 46.600  kg(-250)	46.300  kg (-270) or 46.600  kg(-250)
Max takeoff weight	70.000  kg - 79.000  kg	80.000  kg - 93.500  kg	80.000  kg - 97.000  kg