Airbus A320 family

what is it?

The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus, and is the best-selling airliner ever built. The A320 aircraft programme was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the family was followed by the stretched A321 (first delivered in January 1994), the shorter A319 (April 1996), and the shortest variant, the A318 (July 2003).

🔎How to recognise it: jet engines · 34.1 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 828 km/hcruise speed
• built 9,693made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 39 years ago, in 1987.
• 🚗Wingspan of 34.1 m: about 8 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.4× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1987-02-22

introduced

1988

status

still flying

number built

9,693

role

narrow-body airliner

origin

Multi-national

makers

Airbus Commercial Aircraft

engines

CFM International LEAP / IAE V2500 / CFM International CFM56 / Pratt & Whitney PW1000G

length

44.5 m

wingspan

34.1 m

height

12.6 m

top speed

—

cruise speed

828 km/h

range

—

ceiling

12,130 m

ICAO code

A320

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family