The Airbus A320 family consists of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie. The family includes the A318, A319, A320 and A321, and the ACJ business jet. Final assembly of the family in Europe takes place in Toulouse, France, and Hamburg, Germany. Since 2009, a plant in Tianjin in the People's Republic of China has also started producing aircraft for Chinese airlines. The aircraft family can accommodate up to 220 passengers and has a range of 3,100 to 12,000 km (1,700 to 6,500 nmi), depending on model.
The first member of the A320 family, the A320, was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was first delivered in 1988. The family was soon extended to include the A321 (first delivered 1994), the A319 (1996), and the A318 (2003). The A320 family pioneered the use of digital fly-by-wire flight control systems, as well as side-stick controls, in commercial aircraft. There has been a continuous improvement process since introduction.
On 1 December 2010, Airbus officially launched the new generation of the A320 family with the A320neo "New Engine Option". Offering a choice of the CFM International LEAP-X or Pratt & Whitney PW1000G, combined with airframe improvements and the addition of Sharklets, the aircraft will deliver fuel savings of up to 15%. Virgin America will be the launch customer for the aircraft in spring of 2016. As of 31 December 2011, a total of 1,196 A320neo family aircraft have been ordered by 21 airlines making it the fastest ever selling commercial aircraft.
As of October 2011, a total of 4,858 Airbus A320 family aircraft have been delivered, of which 4,765 are in service. In addition, another 3,255 airliners are on firm order. It ranked as the world's fastest-selling jet airliner family according to records from 2005 to 2007, and as the best-selling single-generation aircraft programme. The family's direct competitors are the Boeing 737, 717 and 757.
Variants
The baseline A320 has given rise to a family of aircraft which share a common design but with passenger capacity ranges from 100, on the A318, to 220, on the A321. They compete with the Boeing 737, 757–200, and 717. Because the four variants share the same flight deck, all have the same pilot type rating. Today all variants are available as corporate jets. US Airways is the largest airline operator of A320 family of aircraft in North America with 232 as of January 2011.
Technically, the name "A320" only refers to the original mid-sized aircraft, but it is often informally used to indicate any of the A318/A319/A320/A321 family. All variants are able to be ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) certified.
A320
The A320 series has two variants, the A320-100 and A320-200. Only 21 A320-100s were ever produced; these aircraft, the first to be manufactured, were delivered only to Air Inter (later acquired by Air France) and British Airways (as a result of an order from British Caledonian Airways made prior to its acquisition by British Airways). The A320-200 features wingtip fences and increased fuel capacity over the A320-100, resulting in increased range; otherwise differences are minimal. Indian Airlines used their first 31 A320-200s with double-bogie main landing gear for airfields with poor runway condition which a single-bogey main gear couldn't manage. Typical range with 150 passengers for the A320-200 is about 3,300 nautical miles (6,150 km). It is powered by two CFMI CFM56-5s or IAE V2500s with thrust ratings between 113 to 120 kN (25,400 to 27,000 lbf). The lowest speed an A320 can fly is approximately207 km/h.
A total of 2,860 of the A320 model have been delivered, with 2,752 still on orders as of 31 December 2011. The direct Boeing competitor is the 737–800.
A321
The A321 is stretch and first derivative of the standard A320. The variant was launched in 1988, when the A320 began operations. Compared with the A320, the A321's major change is the stretched fuselage, which is lengthened by 6.94 metres (22 ft 9 in) which makes the A321 the largest among the A320 Family. This is achieved by adding a front plug immediately forward of wing 4.27 m (14 ft 0 in), and a 2.67 m (8 ft 9 in) rear plug. To maintain performance, double-slotted flaps were included, in addition to increasing the wing area by 4 m2 (43 sq ft), to 128 m2 (1,380 sq ft). Other minor modifications were made to accommodate the A321's 9,600 kg (21,200 lb) increase in maximum takeoff weight, taking the MTOW to 83,000 kg (183,000 lb). The maiden flight of the first of two prototypes came on 11 March 1993. The A321 entered service in 1994.
The basic A321-100 features a reduction in range compared to the A320 as extra fuel tankage was not added to the initial design to compensate for the extra weight. To overcome this Airbus launched the heavier and longer range A321-200 development in 1995 which has a full-passenger transcontinental US range. This is achieved through higher thrust engines (V2533-A5 or CFM56-5B3), minor structural strengthening, and greater fuel capacity with the installation of one 26,600 L (7,000 US gal) in the rear underfloor hold, or two 29,684 L (7,842 US gal) tanks. The A321-200 first flew in December 1996. Its direct competitor is the 757-200 and the 737-900/900ER.
A319
The A319 is a shortened, minimum-change version of the A320. Also known as the A320M-7 (A320 minus seven rows of seats), it is 3.73 metres (12 ft 3 in) shorter than the A320; four frames fore and three frames aft were removed. This allows the number of emergency exits to be reduced to six. With virtually the same fuel capacity as the A320-200, and fewer passengers, the range with 124 passengers in a two-class configuration extends to 6,650 km (3,590 nmi), or 6,850 km (3,700 nmi) with Sharklets. Four propulsion options available on the A319 are the 23,040-pound-force (102.5 kN) V2522-A5 and 24,800-pound-force (110 kN) V2527M-A5 from IAE, or the 22,000-pound-force (98 kN) CFM56-5B/A and 27,000-pound-force (120 kN) CFM56-5B7. Although identical to those of the A320, these engines are derated because of the A319's lower MTOW.
A318
The Airbus A318 is the smallest member of the Airbus A320 family. The A318 carries up to 132 passengers and has a maximum range of 3,100 nmi (5,700 km; 3,600 mi). The aircraft entered service in July 2003 with Frontier Airlines, and shares a common type rating with all other Airbus A320 family variants, allowing existing A320 family pilots to fly the aircraft without the need for further training. It is the largest commercial aircraft certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency for steep approach operations, allowing flights at airports such as London City Airport. Relative to other Airbus A320 family variants, the A318 has sold in only small numbers with total orders for only 80 aircraft placed at 28 February 2011.
Freighter
A programme to convert A320 and A321 aircraft into freighters is being set up by Airbus Freighter Conversion GmbH. Airframes will be converted by EADS EFW in Dresden, Germany, and Zhukovsky, Russia. The launch customer AerCap signed a firm contract on 16 July 2008 to convert 30 of AerCap’s passenger A320/A321s into A320/A321P2F (passenger to freighter).
On 3 June 2011, however, Airbus announced all partners would end the passenger to freighter programme, citing high demand for used airframes for passenger service.
