Airbus A320 Single-Aisle Medium-Range Airliner, Europe

The Airbus A320 single-aisle medium-range airliner first entered service in 1988 and more than 3,400 aircraft of the A320 family are in service today, with over 6,000 ordered.

The A320 family includes the A319 and A318 short-bodied versions and the A321 stretched version. The A319 entered service in 1996, the A321-100 in 1994 and the A321-200 in 1997. The A318 made its first flight in January 2002 and entered service in July 2003. The A320 was the first subsonic airliner to have a fly-by-wire flight control system.

Airbus Industrie is a consortium formed by EADS and BAE Systems. EADS, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, was formed by a merger of Aerospatiale-Matra of France, Daimler-Chrysler Aerospace of Germany and CASA of Spain (former members of Airbus). In October 2006, BAE Systems completed the sale of its shareholding to EADS, which is now the sole owner of Airbus.

A320 orders and deliveries

Orders for the family breakdown as follows: A319 – 1,583 ordered and 1,098 delivered; A320 – 3,893 ordered and 1,964 delivered; A321 – 729 ordered and 469 delivered; and A318 – 92 ordered and 63 delivered.

Recent orders placed for the A319 / 320 / 321 include: Indian Airlines (43), IndiGo (100), AerCap (70), Aeroflot (seven A321), Lufthansa (six A319, four A320, 20 A321), Skybus (65 A319), Air One (40 A320), Hong Kong Airlines (30), Tiger Airways (30 A320), S7 Airlines (25), British Airways (eight), Air France (18), Saudia (22 A320), DAE Capital (70), Air Arabia (34), Wizz Air (50 A320) and Etihad (20).

In December 2007, AirAsia, based in Malaysia, became the largest airline customer for the A320 aircraft, placing an order for an additional 25 aircraft thus increasing its future fleet to 175 A320 aircraft.

In June 2007, Airbus set up a joint venture with a consortium of Chinese companies for the setting up of a final assembly line for A320 family aircraft in Tianjin. Aircraft assembly began in August 2008 and the first aircraft assembled in China is scheduled for delivery in 2009 to Sichuan Airlines. China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group (CASGC) placed an order for 110 A320s in February 2008.

The A320 has over 95% commonality with other members of the A320 fly-by-wire family of aircraft. The wide cabin (3.70m) allows the use of wider seats for higher standards of passenger comfort. The cabin width provides density single-class seating for up to 179 passengers or a more spacious five-abreast business-class or a four-abreast first-class seating arrangement. A typical mixed-class seating arrangement has 12 first-class and 138 economy seats.

A320 flight deck

The flight deck is fitted with two seats, one for each pilot, with primary flight and navigation displays for the Thales / VDO electronic flight and information system, (EFIS). The primary flight display shows speed, altitude and heading data. In the centre section between the pilot's and co-pilot's instrument displays are two Thales / VDO electronic central aircraft monitor displays.

The aircraft is the first subsonic commercial aircraft to be fitted with fly-by-wire controls. Instead of having a central control column and aileron wheel, each pilot has a sidestick controller.

The fly-by-wire system is supplied by Thales / SFENA. The digital fly-by-wire system is controlled by five dedicated computers.

All the primary and secondary flight controls operate by a combination of electronic signalling and hydraulic jacks. Very high safety standards have been built into the flight control systems, including extensive system redundancy.

Flight envelope protection is embedded in the flight control system that will not allow manoeuvres to exceed the aircraft's structural and aerodynamic limitations. It is, for example not possible for the aircraft to exceed the designated g-limits nor to fly beyond the maximum operating speed for longer than a few seconds.

The aircraft's flight speed is maintained above the stall speed even if the pilot were holding the sidestick fully back, and the throttles are automatically opened to achieve a successful positive climb.

Engines

The aircraft is offered with two IAE V2500 engines or two CFM International CFM 56-5 developing 111kN to 120kN. The fuel tanks have a capacity of 23,860l giving the aircraft a range of 5,000km with the maximum number of passengers.

A320 fuselage

The primary structures of the A320 are of composite construction with aramid fibre (AFRP), glass fibre (GFRP) and carbon fibre (CFRP) reinforced plastics. The A320 is the first subsonic aircraft to incorporate composite primary structures.

Large completed sections of the aircraft are built by EADS France (formerly Aerospatiale Matra), the Belgian Belairbus, BAE Systems, EADS Spain (formerly CASA), and EADS Germany (formerly Daimler Chrysler Aerospace Airbus). BAE SYSTEMS has subcontracted the building of the wing root shroud box to Mitsubishi. The completed aircraft sections are transported to France for assembly.

The main cabin has two passenger doors on the port side and service doors on the starboard side. The cargo hold has a capacity of 27.69m³ and can hold bulk cargo or containers. Up to seven 46in-high LD3W containers can be carried, three in the forward hold and four in the aft hold.