Description:
The Airbus A320 is a single-aisle, twin-engine, narrow-body, short- to medium-range aircraft family with a seating capacity for 100-220 passengers. The aircraft family includes the Airbus A318, A319, A320 and A321 featuring high degree of commonality of all models and low operating costs. Wider seats and aisle are meant to provide higher comfort to A320 passengers.
The fuselage body layout of the A320 family of aircraft allows a greater cargo capacity with A319, A320 and A321 fitted out with a containerized automatic cargo loading system to ease cargo handling operations. The cargo handling system of A320 aircraft is fully compatible with the worldwide standard widebody system installed in larger aircraft. Moreover, the A320 family offers low fuel burn and noise emissions characteristics.
The A320 family of aircraft was launched in 1984 and the first A320 jetliner entered service in 1988. It can be powered by either CFM International CFM56-5A (A319 and A320), -5B (A318, A319, A320 and A321) or IAE V2500 engines. In addition, The Pratt & Whitney PW6000 turbofan will power the Airbus A318 jetliner from 2005.
The Airbus A321 aircraft entered service in 1994 with a seating capacity of 185 passengers in two-class configuration or up to 220 in a single-class/high-density configuration and a range of 5,600 kilometers. It can be powered by CFM56-5B or V2500 engines.
In October 2004, Turkish Airlines placed an order for 19 Airbus A320, 12 A321 and five A330-200 jetliners. IAE V2527-A5 engines were selected to power both Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in October 2005 and will continue until 2008.
On December 8, 2004, Vietnam Airlines signed a contract for 10 additional Airbus A321 as an option from an order placed in October 2002. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in Spring 2006.
TACA placed an order for 14 additional aircraft to a previous order with Airbus on December 14, 2004. Airbus will deliver 26 passenger aircraft (five A319s, 16 A320s and five A321s) to TACA between April 2005 and September 2009. Through this further order will become the first Latin American airline to operate Airbus A321 airliner.
Airbus and the China Aviation Supplies Import & Export Group Corporation (CASGC) signed a purchase order for 25 Airbus A320 aircraft at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 21, 2005. CASGC signed on behalf of China Eastern Airlines (5 A319s, 11 A321s and 4 A320s) and Shenzhen Airlines (3 A320s and 2 A319s). CASGC also signed for five Airbus A380s for China Southern Airlines totaling 30 Airbus aircraft firm orders.
BMED, a franchise partner of British Airways, placed an order for seven Airbus A321 powered by IAE V2500 engines on April 28, 2005. The first aircraft was scheduled to be delivered in January 2006.
On 8 July 2005, Iberia placed a firm order for 30 Airbus A320 jetliners powered by CFM56-5B engines and took options on another 49 airplanes. Deliveries were scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2006. The firm order went for 10 A318s, 7 A319s, 10 A320s and 3 A321s.
Russian-carrier Aeroflot placed an order for seven Airbus A321 airplanes powered by CFM International CFM56-5B engines October 24, 2005. The A321s ordered by Aeroflot were set to be delivered in a 170-seat cabin configuration starting in the fourth quarter of 2006.
In early December 2005 coinciding with a visit paid by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to France, China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group (CASGC) and Airbus signed a general Terms Agreement (GTA) for the purchase of 150 A320 family aircraft valued at close to $10 billion. The agreement was signed in Paris on December 5, 2005. The order was the largest ever placed for the A320 aircraft family. Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, and Hainan Airlines will take delivery of 150 A320s including A319, A320 and A321 models.
On 20 February 2006 Indian Airlines Ltd signed a contract for 43 Airbus A320 aircraft family featuring two-class cabin layouts and CFM56-5 engines. The order comprised 20 A319s, 4 A320s and 19 A321s and represented the first time ever an Indian carrier was ordering the A321 model.
On 31 August 2006, US Airways Group placed an order for 15 Airbus A321-200 aircraft to be delivered in a 183-seat two-class layout. This orders comes from a new order for seven aircraft and the conversion of eight existing orders (7 A319 + 1 A320) to A321. The engine selection was expected to be announced at a later date.
On 13 October, 2006, German carrier Lufthansa placed an order for five Airbus A319s, 10 A320s, 15 A321s and 5 A330-300s plus an option for an additional A320 family aircraft. The engine decision was delayed to a later date.
On 17 October 2006, German carrier Blue Wings, together with its shareholder Alpstream, signed a contract with Airbus for 16 A320s and 4 A321s seating 150 and 210 passengers respectively.
Specifications Accommodation: Crew 2, Passengers 220
Dimensions: Height 11.8 m, Length 44.5 m, Wingspan 34 m
Weights: Max Weight 93,900 kg (207,011 lb), Min Weight 49,200 kg (108,466 lb), Payload 20,400 kg (44,974 lb)
Engine/s Performance: Thrust 66,000 lb (29,938 kg)
Performance: Max Range 5,600 km (3,024 nm), Top Speed 273 mps (Mach 0.82)
Brazil / 3 
Canada
Chile / 10 
China
Egypt / 9 
El Salvador / 5 
Finland
Germany
India / 29 
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Lebanon
Morocco
Netherlands
Portugal
Qatar / 4 
Russia
Singapore
South Korea
Spain / 21 
Sweden
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States of America
Vietnam / 51