Airbus A320
The original — the first fly-by-wire airliner with a side-stick · First flight 1987 · In service 1988
The A320 is the aircraft the whole family is named after. Airbus launched the programme on 2 March 1984, the prototype flew on 22 February 1987 and Air France took the first delivery in March 1988, starting commercial service that April.
It was the first airliner with digital fly-by-wire flight controls and side-sticks instead of control yokes — a cockpit layout every later family member shares, so pilots can move between A318, A319, A320 and A321 on one type rating. Power comes from either CFM56-5 or IAE V2500 engines.
From December 2012 new A320s were delivered with optional sharklets — large wingtip devices that lift the span to 35.8 m and trim fuel burn. Around 4,500 A320ceo had been delivered by 2017, flown by everyone from flag carriers to low-cost airlines such as Vueling.
