AviationOutlook Airbus A320 family of aircraft include narrowbody, twin-engine, short to medium range jet airliner designed and produced by Airbus.
The A320 family includes Airbus A318, A319, A320 and A321 as well as the ACJ business jet.
The first aircraft of the A320 family was introduced in April 1988 with Air France. As of June 2019, more than 8,900 A320 family of aircraft have been built, and is one of the best-selling aircraft family.
Manufacturer: Airbus
Country: Multi-national (Europe)
Price:
- A318: US$77.4 million
- A319: US$92.3 million
- A320: US$101.0 million
- A321: US$118.3 million
Produced: 1986-Present
A320 Variants
Specifications
| Details | A318 | A319 | A320 | A321 |
| Cockpit Crew | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 1-class Max. Seating | 132 | 156 | 186 | 236 |
| 1-class, Typical | 117 | 134 | 164 | 199 |
| 2-class, Typical | 107 | 124 | 150 | 185 |
| Cargo Volume | 21.20 m3 (749 cu ft) | 27.70 m3 (978 cu ft) | 37.40 m3 (1,321 cu ft) | 51.70 m3 (1,826 cu ft) |
| Length | 31.44 m (103 ft 2 in) | 33.84 m (111 ft 0 in) | 37.57 m (123 ft 3 in) | 44.51 m (146 ft 0 in) |
| Wingspan | 34.10 m (111 ft 11 in) | 35.8 m (117 ft 5 in) | 35.8 m (117 ft 5 in) | 35.8 m (117 ft 5 in) |
| Wing Sweep | 25 degrees | 25 degrees | 25 degrees | 25 degrees |
| Height | 12.56 m (41 ft 2 in) | 11.76 m (38 ft 7 in) | 11.76 m (38 ft 7 in) | 11.76 m (38 ft 7 in) |
| Fuselage Cabin Width | 3.70 m (12 ft 2 in) | 3.70 m (12 ft 2 in) | 3.70 m (12 ft 2 in) | 3.70 m (12 ft 2 in) |
| MTOW | 68 t (150,000 lb) | 75.5 t (166,000 lb) | 78 t (172,000 lb) | 93.5 t (206,000 lb) |
| Max. Payload | 15 t (33,000 lb) | 17.7 t (39,000 lb) | 19.9 t (44,000 lb) | 25.3 t (56,000 lb) |
| Cruise Speed | Mach 0.78 | Mach 0.78 | Mach 0.78 | Mach 0.78 |
| Range | 5,741 km (3,100 nmi) | 6,945 km (3,750 nmi) | 6,112 km (3,300 nmi) | 5,926 km (3,200 nmi) |
| Ceiling | 39,100-41,000 ft | 39,100-41,000 ft | 39,100-41,000 ft | 39,100-41,000 ft |
| Engines (x2) | PW6000A | IAE V2500A5 | IAE V2500A5 | IAE V2500A5 |
| Thrust (x2) | 96–106 kN | 98–120 kN | 98–120 kN | 133–147 kN |
| ICAO Code | A318 | A319 | A320 | A321 |
Major Accidents
On February 14, 1990, when an Indian Airlines A320 aircraft landed in Bangalore , it crashed 400 meters from the runway, and 92 of the 146 people onboard were killed.
On January 20, 1992, Inter Air Flight 148 crashed into the mountains. 87 people onboard were killed and 9 survived.
On September 14, 1993, a Lufthansa A320 airliner slipped off the runway at the Warsaw Airport in Poland. One crew member and one of the 64 passengers were killed.
On February 14, 1996, an Indian Airlines passenger plane crashed while landing, killing 82 passengers and 4 crew members.
In 1998, an International Airlines A320 crashed in the mountains near Strasbourg, killing 82 passengers and 5 crew members.
On August 23, 2000, a Bahrain Gulf Air A320 passenger jet crashed into the bay near Bahrain Airport from Cairo to Manama, the capital of Bahrain. All 135 passengers and 8 crew members onboard were killed.
On May 3, 2006, an Armenian Airbus A320 in Sochi, southern Russia crashed into the sea and 113 passengers and crew members were killed.
On July 18, 2007, Flight 3054 of Brazil’s TAM Airlines carrying 187 people slid off the runway while landing at São Paulo Congonhas Airport, hitting a nearby gas station and warehouse and causing a fire, which killed a total of 198 people, including 11 ground personnel.
On January 15, 2009, after American Airlines Flight 1549 (A320) took off from New York LaGuardia Airport. The engines failed due to a collision with wild geese. The pilot however navigated the aircraft to avoid the densely populated areas of New York, and landed on the Hudson River, saving all 155 people on board.
On December 28, 2014, an AirAsia QZ8501 flight from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore lost contact with the Jakarta Tower. An Indonesian Ministry of Transport official said that the lost AirAsia passenger plane carried 155 passengers and 7 crew members, including 138 adult passengers, 16 children and 1 infant.
On May 14, 2018, Sichuan Airlines Airbus A319 was flying from Chongqing to Lhasa. After taking off, it climbed to a cruising altitude of 9800 meters. However, when flying through the Chengdu air traffic control area, the front windshield of the right seat of the aircraft cockpit suddenly broke and fell off, causing the aircraft cabin to lose pressure and the passenger oxygen mask fell. The incident caused damage to some equipment in the cockpit, and the first officer and a flight attendant suffered minor injuries.
On May 23, 2020, an Airbus A320 belonging to Pakistan International Airlines crashed in the southern port city of Karachi. Rescuers searched for the bodies of 80 victims and two people onboard survived.
