Airbus A319

A319
A Lufthansa Airbus A319
Role	Narrow-body jet airliner
National origin	Multi-national
Manufacturer	Airbus
First flight	25 August 1995
Introduction	1996 with Swissair
Status	In service
Primary users	EasyJet American Airlines United Airlines Delta Air Lines
Produced	1994–present
Number built	1,457 as of 31 October 2016[1]
Unit cost	US$89.6 million[2]
Developed from	Airbus A320
Variants	Airbus A318
Developed into	Airbus A320neo family

The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus.^{[lower-alpha 1]} The A319 carries up to 160 passengers and has a maximum range of 3,700 nmi (6,900 km; 4,300 mi).^[3] Final assembly of the aircraft takes place in Hamburg, Germany.

The A319 is a shortened-fuselage variant of the Airbus A320 and entered service in April 1996 with Swissair, around two years after the stretched Airbus A321 and eight years after the original A320. The aircraft shares a common type rating with all other Airbus A320 family variants, allowing existing A320 family pilots to fly the aircraft without the need for further training.

As of 31 October 2016, a total of 1,457 Airbus A319 aircraft have been delivered, of which 1,441 are in service. In addition, another 21 airliners are on firm order. As of 31 October 2016, EasyJet was the largest operator of the Airbus A319, operating 144 aircraft.^[1]

In December 2010, Airbus announced a new generation of the A320 family, the A320neo (new engine option).^[4] The similarly shortened fuselage A319neo variant offers new, more efficient engines, combined with airframe improvements and the addition of winglets, named Sharklets by Airbus. The aircraft will deliver fuel savings of up to 15%. The A319neo is the least popular variant of the Airbus A320neo family, with total orders for only 58 aircraft placed as of 31 October 2016, compared with 3,385 for the A320neo and 1,375 for the A321neo.^[1]

Development

Background

The first member of the A320 family was the A320 which was launched in March 1984 and first flew on 22 February 1987.^[5] The family was extended to include the stretched A321 (first delivered 1994), the shortened A319 (1996), and the further shortened A318 (2003). The A320 family pioneered the use of digital fly-by-wire flight control systems, as well as side stick controls, in commercial aircraft. The A319 was developed at the request of Steven Udvar-Hazy, the former president and CEO of ILFC according to The New York Times.^[6]

A US Airways A319 in America West heritage livery. The A319's wingspan is longer than the aircraft's overall length.

Origins and design

The A319 design is a shortened fuselage, minimum change derivative of the A320 with its origins in the 130- to 140-seat SA1, part of the Single-Aisle studies.^[7] The SA1 was shelved as the consortium concentrated on its bigger siblings. After healthy sales of the A320/A321, Airbus re-focused on what was then known as the A320M-7, meaning A320 minus seven fuselage frames.^[8] It would provide direct competition for the 737–300/-700.^[7] The shrink was achieved through the removal of four fuselage frames fore and three aft the wing, cutting the overall length by 3.73 metres (12 ft 3 in).^[3][9][10] Consequently, the number of overwing exits was reduced from four to two. The bulk-cargo door was replaced by an aft container door, which can take in reduced height LD3-45 containers.^[10] Minor software changes were made to accommodate the different handling characteristics; otherwise the aircraft is largely unchanged. Power is provided by the CFM56-5A or V2500-A5, derated to 98 kN (22,000 lbf), with option for 105 kN (24,000 lbf) thrust.^[11]

With virtually the same fuel capacity as the A320-200, and fewer passengers, the range with 124 passengers in a two-class configuration extends to 6,650 km (3,590 nmi), or 6,850 km (3,700 nmi) with the "Sharklets".^[3]

Production and testing

Airbus began offering the new model from 22 May 1992, and the A319's first customer was ILFC, who signed for six aircraft.^[12] Anticipating further orders by Swissair and Alitalia, Airbus launched the $275 million (€250 million) programme on 10 June 1993.^[10][12][13] On 23 March 1995, the first A319 underwent final assembly at Airbus' German plant in Hamburg, where the A321s are also assembled. It was rolled out on 24 August 1995, with the maiden flight the following day.^[14] The certification programme would take 350 airborne hours involving two aircraft; certification for the CFM56-5B6/2-equipped variant was granted in April 1996, and the qualification for the V2524-A5 started the following month.^[15]

An EasyJet A319

Delivery of the first A319, to Swissair, took place on 25 April 1996, entering service by month's end.^[15] In January 1997, an A319 broke a record during a delivery flight by flying 3,588 nautical miles (6,645 km) on the great circle route to Winnipeg, Manitoba from Hamburg, in 9 hours 5 minutes.^[15] The A319 has proved popular with low-cost airlines such as EasyJet, who has orders for 172, with 172 delivered.^[1]

A total of 1,457 of the A319ceo model have been delivered, with 21 remaining on order as of 31 October 2016.^[1] The direct Boeing competitor is the Boeing 737-700.

Variants

A319CJ

The A319CJ (rebranded ACJ319) is the corporate jet version of the A319. It incorporates removable extra fuel tanks (up to 6 Additional Center Tanks) which are installed in the cargo compartment, and an increased service ceiling of 12,500 m (41,000 ft).^[16] Range with eight passengers' payload and auxiliary fuel tanks (ACTs) is up to 6,000 nautical miles (11,100 km).^[17][18] Upon resale, the aircraft can be reconfigured as a standard A319 by removing its extra tanks and corporate cabin outfit, thus maximising its resale value. It was formerly also known as the ACJ, or Airbus Corporate Jet, while starting with 2014 it has the marketing designation ACJ319.

ACJ319 operated by the Austrian operator MJET

The aircraft seats up to 39 passengers, but may be outfitted by the customers into any configuration. Tyrolean Jet Service Mfg. GmbH & CO KG, MJET and Reliance Industries are among its users. The A319CJ competes with other ultralarge-cabin corporate jets such as the Boeing 737–700-based Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) and Embraer Lineage 1000, as well as with large-cabin and ultralong-range Gulfstream G650, Gulfstream G550 and Bombardier's Global 6000. It is powered by the same engine types as the A320. The A319CJ was used by the Escadron de Transport, d'Entraînement et de Calibration which is in charge of transportation for France's officials and also by the Flugbereitschaft of the German Air Force for transportation of Germany's officials. An ACJ serves as a presidential or official aircraft of Armenia,^[19] Azerbaijan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy,^[20] Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Venezuela.

A319neo

The A319neo will be part of the Airbus A320neo family of airliners developed since December 2010 by Airbus,^[21] with the suffix "neo" meaning "new engine option". It is the last step of the A320 Enhanced (A320E) modernisation programme, which was started in 2006. The A319neo replaces the original A319, which is now referred to as A319ceo, for "current engine option".

In addition to the new engines, the modernisation programme also included such improvements as: aerodynamic refinements, large curved winglets (sharklets), weight savings, a new aircraft cabin with larger hand luggage spaces, and an improved air purification system.^[22][23] Customers will have a choice of either the CFM International LEAP-1A or the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines.

These improvements in combination are predicted to result in 15% lower fuel consumption per aircraft, 8% lower operating costs, reduced noise production, and a reduction of nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions by at least 10% compared to the A320 series, as well as an increase in range of approximately 500 nautical miles (900 km).^[24]

The A319neo is the least popular variant of the Airbus A320neo family, with total orders for only 58 aircraft placed as of 31 October 2016, compared with 3,385 for the A320neo and 1,375 for the A321neo.^[1]

A319LR

A Qatar Airways A319LR

The A319LR is the longer range version of the A319. The typical range of the A319LR is increased up to 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km) compared to the standard A319. Qatar Airways get two A319-100LRs in 2002 and PrivatAir get two A319LR in 2003.^[25]

Design

The Airbus A319 is a narrow-body (single-aisle) aircraft with a retractable tricycle landing gear and is powered by two wing pylon-mounted turbofan engines. It is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a conventional tail unit having a single vertical stabilizer and rudder. Two suppliers provide turbofan engines for the A319: CFM with its CFM56 and International Aero Engines with the V2500 engine.

Operators

As of 31 October 2016, 1,441 Airbus A319 aircraft were in service with 106 operators,^[1] with EasyJet and American Airlines operating the largest A319 fleets of 144 and 125 aircraft respectively.^[1] The A319 is the most popular variant of the Airbus A320 family to operated by Governments and as executive and private jets, with 73 aircraft in operation in these capacities as of October 2016.^[1]

Orders and deliveries

Data through end of October 2016. Updated 13 November 2016.^[1]

Accidents and incidents

For the Airbus A319, 11 aviation accidents and incidents have occurred,^[26] including two hull-loss accidents,^[27] though there have been no fatal accidents recorded involving the aircraft type as of June 2016.^[28]

Specifications

Engines

See also

• Airbus Corporate Jets

Related development

• Airbus A318
• Airbus A320 family

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Boeing 717
• Boeing 737-300
• Boeing 737-700
• Bombardier CSeries
• Comac C919
• Irkut MC-21
• Tupolev Tu-204

Related lists

• List of Airbus A320 operators
• List of jet airliners
• Lists of airlines

References

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

• Eden, Paul E. (general editor) (2008). Civil Aircraft Today. London: Amber Books. ISBN 978-1-905704-86-6. 
• Gunston, Bill (2009). Airbus: The Complete Story. Sparkford, Yeovil, Somerset, UK: Haynes Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84425-585-6. 
• Norris, Guy and Mark Wagner (1999). Airbus. St. Paul, Minnesota: MBI Publishing. ISBN 0-7603-0677-X. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Airbus A320 family.

• Official Airbus website of the A319