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Airbus A320

1988 MODERN AIRCRAFT

History of the Airbus A320

The A320 family of jets was launched with Air France on April 18, 1988, as the company's foray into the narrow-body market (which faced competition from Boeing and Douglas at the time). The series is suitable for short to medium haul routes and is powered by two under-mounted turbofan engines. Major customers include American Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and EasyJet.

The series has been in production since 1986 and around 7,400 such examples have been produced/delivered (as of the end of 2016).

The Airbus A320 family includes the A318, A319, A320 and A321. The A320neo (neo = "new engine option") is another derivative, launched in 2016 as a narrow twin-engine passenger tug (Lufthansa). These offer customers engine options centered on the CFM International LEAP-1A or Pratt & Whitney PW1000G series engines.

The introduction of "neo" resulted in the original A320 series being called "ceo" (ceo = 'Current Engine Option').

The A319 is a 124-passenger short-body version (12.2 feet less). Various engine options are available to customers. The service was launched in April 1996 (SWISS). The A319CJ became the "business jet" version of the brand (renamed "ACJ319").

The A318 was unveiled as the more compact A320 with a seating capacity of 132 passengers. Service entry was July 2003 (Frontier Airlines). Its main advantage is its short and steep approach capability, allowing it to access runways in more populated areas.

Attempts to produce a freighter-oriented version of the A320 ultimately failed, and the program ran from mid-2008 to mid-2011. However, there have been attempts to convert the existing A320 airframe into freighter form (2015).

In all cases, there are only two people in the cockpit of the A320 family. Passenger numbers will of course vary by design, although size and performance are more or less comparable across brands. The MTOW varies widely, for example the A318 is priced at ?150,000 while the A321 is priced at ?206,000. The service ceiling is as high as 12,500 meters across the board.

The powerplant of choice is a CFM International CFM56-5B series turbofan, although the PW6000A and IAE V2500A5 are alternatives. Therefore, thrust performance and in some cases inter-mark performance will be affected.

The A320 family operates worldwide with the largest customer being American Airlines (378 aircraft). Other operating countries include Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt, El Salvador, Germany, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Libya, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Sweden , Taiwan, Turkey and Uzbekistan (among other things).

The products of the A3XX programme are intended to replace the A320 family in the Airbus family. However, it is not expected to hit the market until the mid-2020s.

More recently, the A320 family has become the direct focus of several broader military roles, including Maritime Patrol (MP), Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT).