Airbus A320

British Midland Airbus A320

The Airbus A320 family from the smallest (A318) to the largest (A321)

The flight deck of the Airbus A320, using digital fly-by-wire for primary flight controls, side-stick controllers in place of the usual control columns, and six large electronic displays.

The Airbus A320 is a short to medium range commercial passenger aircraft manufactured by Airbus Industrie. It is the best-selling passenger aircraft in the world (at 2003) and was the first airliner with a digital fly-by-wire flight control system, where the pilot controls flight surfaces through the use of electronic signals rather than mechanically with pulleys and hydraulic systems.

History

After the initial success of the A300, Airbus targeted the market segment that was occupied by the 1960s designed Boeing 727. Airbus designed an aircraft with a fuel burn of only around 50% of the 727.

The A320 first flew in 1984 and was commercially launched in 1988. Unlike the earlier Airbus A300, it sold strongly from the outset and has been the fastest-selling airliner in the world for several years.

Early on in its service lifetime, the A320 had several highly publicized crashes. The most notorious occurred on July 26, 1988, when an Air France A320 crashed during an airshow in Habsheim, France. While the crash was officially blamed on pilot error, the investigation left numerous unanswered questions. Switzerland's Institute of Police Forensic Evidence and Criminology later determined that the plane's flight data recorder had been substituted after the crash, throwing the entire investigation into doubt.

Most of these accidents were attributed to pilot error dealing with the innovative fly-by-wire system. As the airplane matured, the incidence of such accidents diminished and seems to have no impact on the airplane's huge popularity.

Technology

The new-technology items introduced include:

the first fully digital fly-by-wire flight control system in a civil airliner

the first civil airliner to use sidesticks instead of control columns

2-man crew (compared to 3-man crew of the 727)

fully featured glass cockpit rather than the hybrid versions found in A310, Boeing 757 and Boeing 767

the first narrowbody airliner with a significant amount of the structure made from fiber composites

centralized maintenance diagnostics systems allowing the technicians to do diagnostics of aircraft system items from the cockpit

the first narrowbody airliner with a containerized cargo system

All these features help make the A320 family more economical airliners to operate relative to older designs.

Variants

The A320 has given rise to a family of aircraft which share a common design but are a little smaller (the A319), a lot smaller (the A318), or a little larger (the A321). Passenger capacity is between 100 to 220. They compete with the Boeing 737 family and the Boeing 757-200. All have the same pilot type-rating.

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 ETOPS rated.

A320 series

The A320 series has two variants i.e. the A320-100 and A320-200. The A320-200 is the definitive version as very few A320-100 were produced. A320-200 features wingtip fences and increased fuel capacity over the A320-100 for increased range, other than that changes were minimal.

Typical range with 150 passengers for the A320-200 is about 2900 nautical mile (5,400 km). It is powered by two CFMI CFM56-5 or IAE V2500 with thrust ratings between 25,5000 to 27,000 pounds (113 kN to 120 kN).

A319 series

This is shortened, minimum change version of the A320. With virtually same fuel capacity as the as A320-200, and fewer passengers, the range with 124 passengers in 2-class configuration extends to 3,900 nautical miles (7200 km), the highest in its class. The A320 and A319 are the most popular variants of the A320 family. In 2003 easyJet took delivery of A319s with smaller galleys (as easyJet does not serve meals) and 156 seats in a single class configuration. To satisfy evacuation regulations additional over-wing exits were also added.

The easyJet massive order of 120 A319 plus 120 options are among the biggest sales deals in recent times. It set the precedent of other low-cost airlines to consider the economics of the A320 family rather than the traditional choice, the Boeing 737 new or secondhand.

It is powered by the same types of engine as the A320. JAA certification and service entry, with Swissair, took place in April 1996.

A319CJ series

This is the corporate jet version of the A319. It incorporates extra fuel tanks which are installed in the cargo compartment giving a range of 6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km). Upon resale the aircraft can be reconfigured as a standard A319 by removing its extra tanks, thus maximising its resale value.

Seating is up to 39 passengers but may be outfitted by the customers into any configuration. DaimlerChrysler and PrivatAir are among its users. The A319CJ competes with other corporate jets such as Boeing 737-based BBJ and Bombardier's Global Express. It is powered by the same types of engines as the A320.

A319LR series

This version features an all-business class layout with 48 seats, specifically tailored for exclusive business class services on intercontinental routes. The A319LR, compared to the A319CJ has four auxiliary fuel tanks instead of six. Typical range is 4,500 nautical mile(8300km), making it longest range airliner in the A320 family.

Lufthansa operates a premium business service between Germany and US using a fleet of A319LR

A321 series

This is a lengthened, minimum change version of the A320. The wing area is slightly enlarged and the undercarriage is strengthened, with higher thrust variants of both CFM56 and V2500. Some carriers have bought the A321 over the Boeing 757 as it shares type commonality with the A318, A319, and A320. Type certification was awarded in December 1993 by the JAA.

Typical range with 186 passengers for the A321-100 is about 2,300 nautical miles (4,300 km). It is powered by two CFM56-5 or IAE V2500 engines with a thrust rating of 31,000 pounds (138 kN).

The A321-200 has extra fuel capacity bringing the range with 186 passengers up to about 3,000 nautical miles (5,500 km). The A321-200 is powered by two CFM56-5 or IAE V2500 engines with a thrust rating of about 33,000 pounds (147 kN).

A318 series

Main article: Airbus A318

The smallest member of the A320 family is derived by shrinking the A319. It was known as the A319M3 during development, with the "M3" component meaning minus three rib frames. Its passenger capacity is 109 in 2-class configuration. It is designed as replacements for early series Boeing 737 and Douglas DC-9, thus making it a rival to Boeing 717, which is essentially an updated DC-9.

The A318 is available with a variety of different maximum take-off weights (MTOW) ranging from a 59 tonne, 2,750 km (1,500 nautical mile) basic version to a 68 tonne, 6,000 km (3,250 nautical mile) version. The lower MTOW enables it to operate regional routes economically whilst sacrificing range and the higher MTOW allows it to complement other members of the A320 family on marginal routes.

It is powered by two CFM56-5 or Pratt & Whitney PW6000 with thrust range of between 21,600 to 23,800 pounds (96 to 106 kN) thrust. Launch customers Frontier Airlines and Air France took deliveries in 2003.

A320 Market Share

Boeing has shipped 1,500 737s in just 6 years, for a total of 5,415 ordered sice the 1960's, compared to 3,117 Airbus A320s ordered since inception around 15 years ago, making the A320 faster selling on the average (195 aircraft per annum versus 144 aircraft per annum for the 737). The recent trend of fleet renewals by low-cost airlines like easyJet, jetBlue, Air Berlin and Virgin America has favoured the A320 family, thus stagnating the 737 further fleet growth.

However, these sales figures include the Airbus A321, which is intended to compete with another Boeing product, the 757, and the Airbus A318, which is intended to compete with the 717 which by the way, for fleet commonality purposes may be swapped with 737-600.

According to the Boeing website, the Next-Generation Boeing 737 (-600 to -900) noting that -900 is a perfect replacement for the 757-200, was the fastest plane to reach 1500 orders in 6 years, compared to 13 for the Airbus A320, and 16 for the Boeing 727. Recent figures showed that the A320 family outsold the Next-Generation Boeing 737 for the past few years despite the latter's strong initial sales. However, the 737NG deliveries in the first quarter of 2004 were 55 airframes, while Airbus delivered 46 of the A320 family during the same time period.

Accident Summary

(As of 2004 for whole A320 Family)

Hull-loss Accidents: 11 with a total of 327 fatalities
Other occurrences: 2 with a total of 0 fatalities
Hijackings: 6 with a total of 1 fatalities

External links

Details on the Airbus family of aircraft (http://www.airbus.com/dynamic/product/index_h.asp)
History and pictures of the Airbus A319 (http://www.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=23), A320 (http://www.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=23), and A321 (http://www.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=23)
Aircraft-Info.net - Airbus A320 (http://www.aircraft-info.net/aircraft/jet_aircraft/airbus/A320/)
Airbus A318 (http://www.planemad.net/data/list/Airbus/A318/), A319 (http://www.planemad.net/data/list/Airbus/A319/), A320 (http://www.planemad.net/data/list/Airbus/A320/), A321 (http://www.planemad.net/data/list/Airbus/A321/) Production List
Aircraft-Info.net A320 (http://www.aircraft-info.net/aircraft/jet_aircraft/airbus/A320/)
Airliners.net A320 Article (http://www.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=23)
Image of Cockpit (http://www.meriweather.com/320/320_main.html)
The A320 Project Website (http://www.avsim.com/hangar/flight/a320project/main.html) (Construction of A320 Simulator)

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Designation Series	A300 - A310 - A318 - A319 - A320 - A321 - A330 - A340 - A380
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