Airbus A318
| Airbus A318 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Role | Narrow-body jet airliner |
| National origin | Multi-national |
| Manufacturer | Airbus |
| First flight | 15 January 2002 |
| Introduction | 2003 with Frontier Airlines |
| Primary users | Air France LAN Airlines Avianca Frontier Airlines |
| Produced | 2002–present |
| Number built | 73 as of 31 January 2011[1] |
The Airbus A318 is the smallest member of Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.[Nb 1] The A318 has 107 seats and final assembly of the A318 takes place in Toulouse, France.
Development
The first member of the A320 family was the A320 which was launched in March 1984 and first flew on 22 February 1987. The family was soon extended to include the A321 (first delivered 1994), the A319 (1996), and the 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 A318 was born out of a mid-1990 studies between Aviation Industries of China (AVIC), Singapore Technologies Aerospace, Alenia and Airbus on a 95- to 125-seat aircraft project. The programme was called the AE31X, and covers the 95-seat AE316 and 115- to 125-seat AE317.[2] The former would have an overall length of31.3 metres (102 ft 8 in), while the AE317 is longer by 3.2 metres (10 ft 6 in), at 34.5 metres (113 ft 2 in).[3] The engines would be supplied from two BMW Rolls-Royce BR715s, CFM56-9s, or the Pratt & Whitney PW6000s;[2][3] with the MTOW of 53.3 tonnes (118,000 lb) for the smaller version and 58 tonnes (128,000 lb) for the AE317, the thrust requirement were 77.9–84.6 kilonewtons (17,500–19,000 lbf) and 84.6–91.2 kilonewtons (19,000–20,500 lbf), respectively.[3] Range was settled at 5,200 kilometres (2,800 nmi) and 5,800 kilometres (3,100 nmi) for the high gross weights of both variants.[3] Both share a wingspan of 31.0 metres (101 ft 8 in)[3] and a flight deck similar to that of the A320 family. Costing $2 billion to develop, aircraft production to take place in China.[2]
First called A319M5 in as early as March 1995. 0.79 metres (2 ft 7 in) ahead of wing, 1.6 metres (5 ft 3 in) behind.[4] 107-passenger two-class layout, range of 3,350 kilometres (1,810 nmi), or 6,850 kilometres (3,700 nmi) with upcoming sharklets.[5] Laser welding, eliminates to necessity for heavy rivets and bolts. The aircraft is six metres shorter and four tonnes lighter than the A320. To compensate for the reduced moment arm it has a larger vertical stabiliser, making it 80 centimetres taller than the other A320 variants. Pilots who are trained on the other variants may fly the A318 with no further certification, since it features the same type rating as its sister aircraft.
The A318 is available with a variety of different maximum take-off weights (MTOW) ranging from a 59 tonne, 2,750 km (1,500 nautical mile) base model to a 68 tonne, 6,000 km (3,240 nautical mile) version. The lower MTOW enables it to operate regional routes economically while sacrificing range and the higher MTOW allows it to complement other members of the A320 family on marginal routes. The lighter weight of the A318 gives it an operating range 10% greater than the A320, allowing it to serve some routes that the A320 would be unable to: London-New York, Perth-Auckland and Singapore-Tokyo, for instance. Its main use for airlines, however, is on short, low-density hops between medium cities.
During the design process, the A318 ran into several problems. The first one was the decline in demand for new aircraft following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Another one was the new Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines, which burned more fuel than expected: by the time CFMI had a more efficient engine ready for market, many A318 customers had already backed out, including Air China and British Airways. America West Airlines, which had selected the Pratt & Whitney engines, amended its A318 orders, opting instead for A319 or A320 aircraft. Trans World Airlines cancelled a significant order for fifty A318s after being acquired by American Airlines, which does not operate any A320 family aircraft (although neither did TWA when the order was originally placed). While Airbus was hoping to market the A318 as a regional jet alternative, laws in both the U.S. and Europe have kept it in the same class as larger aircraft for calculating landing fees and the like, so regional operators have avoided it.
It is powered by two CFM56-5 or Pratt & Whitney PW6000 engines with thrusts between 21,600 and 23,800 lbf (96 and 106 kN). Launch customers Frontier Airlines and Air France took deliveries in 2003, with Frontier receiving their models in July of that year. The price of an A318 ranges from $56 to $62 million,[6] and operating costs are between $2,500 and $3,000 for each flight hour.[7]
Orders for the A318 have been quite slow, but significantly better than for its direct competitor the B737-600. Airbus had received 83 orders (25 July 2009) for this model compared to 69 for the B737-600. The sales pace has been influenced by the strong sales of the Bombardier CRJ900 and Embraer E-Jets series. Notable A318 customers were Air France, 18; Frontier Airlines, 10 (+ 1 order); LAN Chile, 20 orders; and Mexicana, 10 orders. In October 2006 an A318 was successfully tested at London City Airport for steep approach compatibility, which will allow operators to serve airports constrained by noise restrictions, tall buildings or difficult terrain.[8] British Airways operates two A318 aircraft from London City Airport via a refuelling stop at Shannon (on the outbound leg only) to New York Kennedy Airport. They are operated in a 32-seat all business class configuration as flights BA001-4, the flight numbers previously used by Concorde on this route.[9]
A318 Elite
On 10 November 2005 Airbus announced the A318 Elite. The Airbus A318 Elite is aimed at the medium-range market for flights of up to 4,000 nm (7,400 km) range, with a choice of two cabin layouts seating up to 18 passengers, and will be powered by CFM engines. Comlux Aviation became the launch customer by ordering three A318 Elite aircraft.
Design
The Airbus A318 is a small, narrow-body (single-aisle) aircraft with a retractable tricycle landing gear and are powered by two wing pylon-mounted turbofan engines. It is a low-wing cantilever monoplanes with a conventional tail unit with a single vertical stabilizer and rudder. Two suppliers provide turbofan engines for the A318: CFM International with their CFM56 and Pratt & Whitney with the PW6000 engines.
Operational history
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Maiden flight was from Tolouse on 15 January 2002 and the first customer delivery was 22 July 2003 to Frontier Airlines.[10]
Operators
Airline operators include:
Other aircraft are operated by private and executive operators.
Orders and deliveries
| Orders | Deliveries | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Total | Backlog | Total | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | ||||
| A318 | 83 | 9 | 74 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | |||||
Data through end of January 2011. Updated on February 16, 2011.[1]
Specifications
| A318-100 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cockpit crew | Two | |||
| Seating capacity | 132 (1-class, maximum) 117 (1-class, typical) 107 (2-class, typical) | |||
| Cargo capacity | 21.21 m3 (749 cu ft) | |||
| Length | 31.44 m (103 ft 2 in) | |||
| Wingspan | 34.10 m (111 ft 11 in) | |||
| Wing area | 122.6 m2 (1,320 sq ft) | |||
| Wing sweepback | 25 degrees | |||
| Tail height | 12.51 m (41 ft 1 in) | |||
| Cabin width | 3.70 m (12 ft 2 in) | |||
| Fuselage width | 3.95 m (13 ft 0 in) | |||
| Operating empty weight | 39,500 kg (87,100 lb) | |||
| Maximum zero-fuel weight (MZFW) | 54,500 kg (120,200 lb) | |||
| Maximum take-off weight (MTOW) | 75.5 t (166,000 lb) | |||
| Cruising speed | Mach 0.78 (828 km/h/511 mph at 11,000 m/36,000 ft) | |||
| Maximum speed | Mach 0.82 (871 km/h/537 mph at 11,000 m/36,000 ft) | |||
| Maximum range, fully loaded | 3,100 nmi (5,700 km; 3,600 mi) | |||
| Take off run at MTOW (sea level, ISA) | 1,355 m (4,446 ft) | |||
| Maximum fuel capacity | 24,210 L (5,330 imp gal; 6,400 US gal) | |||
| Service ceiling | 12,000 m (39,000 ft) | |||
| Engines (×2) | Pratt & Whitney PW6000 series or CFM International CFM56-5 series | |||
| Thrust (×2) | 96–106 kN (22,000–24,000 lbf) | |||
Engines
| Aircraft Model | Date | Engines |
|---|---|---|
| A318-111 | 2003 | CFM56-5B8/P |
| A318-112 | 2003 | CFM56-5B9/P |
| A318-121 | 2007 | PW6122A |
| A318-122 | 2007 | PW6124A |
See also
Related development
Related lists
References
- Footnotes
- ^ Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully-owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001.
- References
- ^ a b "Airbus orders and deliveries". Airbus S.A.S. January 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c Norris & Wagner 1999, p. 87
- ^ a b c d e "Time out in Asia". Flight Global. 1997-11-5. p. 39. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Gunston 2009, p. 222
- ^ a b "Specifications Airbus A318". Airbus. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
- ^ Airbus Aircraft 2010 List Prices. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
- ^ New Bizjets Ainonline
- ^ Press releases | Airbus, a leading aircraft manufacturer. Airbus.com. Retrieved on 2011-01-12.
- ^ Flight Daily News: "BA buys two Airbus A318s" 5.28.08
- ^ Gunston 2009, p. 223
- ^ "All about the A320 family – Technical Appendices" (PDF). Airbus. May 2009. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
- Bibliography
- Norris, Guy and Mark Wagner (1999). Airbus. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing. ISBN 0-7603-0677-X.
External links
