77-615: Nivedita Bhasin (born 1963) of Indian Airlines became the youngest woman pilot in world civil aviation history to command a commercial jet aircraft on 1 January 1990 at the age of 26. Bhasin piloted IC-492 on the Bombay - Aurangabad - Udaipur sector. Nivedita joined Indian Airlines in 1984 and has many firsts to her credit: She was promoted to executive director flight safety in November 2020 . Her Husband Rohit Bhasin & Daughter Niharika Bhasin work for INDIGO airlines, Her son Capt Rohan Bhasin
154-678: A 3.5% fuel burn reduction on flights over 2,800 km (1,500 nmi; 1,700 mi), saving approximately US$ 220,000 and 700 t of CO 2 per aircraft per year. The 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) tall wingtip devices are manufactured by Korean Air Aerospace Division. In December 2011, Airbus filed suit in the western district of Texas over Aviation Partners ' claims of infringement of its patents on winglet design and construction which were granted in 1993. Airbus' lawsuit seeks to reject responsibility to pay royalties to Aviation Partners for using its designs, despite work performed together with both parties to develop advanced winglets for
231-805: A 60 monthly global production rate by mid-2019, the Tianjin line delivered 51 in 2016 and it could assemble six per month from four as it starts producing A320neos in 2017; 147 Airbus were delivered in 2016 in China, 20% of its production, mostly A320-family, a 47% market share as the country should become the world's largest market ahead of the US before 2027. In June 2018, along a larger and modernised delivery centre, Airbus inaugurated its fourth Hamburg production line, with two seven-axis robots to drill 80% of fuselage upper side holes, autonomous mobile tooling platforms and following Design Thinking principles. By January 2019, Mobile
308-565: A 95- to 125-seat aircraft project. The programme was called the AE31X , and covered the 95-seat AE316 and 115- to 125-seat AE317. The former would have had an overall length of 31.3 m (102 ft 8 in), while the AE317 was longer by 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in), at 34.5 m (113 ft 2 in). The engines were to be two Rolls-Royce BR715s, CFM56-9s, or the Pratt & Whitney PW6000 ; with
385-489: A company based in Wichita , Kansas , USA. Two aircraft were used in the flight test evaluation campaign – the prototype A320, which had been retained by Airbus for testing, and a new build aircraft which was fitted with both types of winglets before it was delivered to JetBlue . Despite the anticipated efficiency gains and development work, Airbus announced that those winglets would not be offered to customers, claiming that
462-545: A design called the HS.134 "Airbus" in 1965, an evolution of the HS.121 (formerly DH.121) Trident , which shared much of the general arrangement of the later JET3 study design. The name "Airbus" at the time referred to a BEA requirement, rather than to the later international programme. In June 1977 a new Joint European Transport (JET) programme was set up, established by British Aerospace (BAe), Aerospatiale , Dornier and Fokker . It
539-503: A dispute between the French, who claimed the move would incur $ 150 million (€135 million) in unnecessary expenditures associated with the new plant, and the Germans, who argued that it would be more productive for Airbus in the long run. The second production line was located at Hamburg , which would also subsequently produce the smaller Airbus A319 and A318. For the first time, Airbus entered
616-437: A full glass cockpit, rather than the hybrid versions found in previous airliners. It is also equipped with an Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) with side-stick controllers. The A320 has an Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitor (ECAM) to give the flight crew information about all of the systems on the aircraft. The only analogue instruments were the radio-magnetic indicator and brake pressure indicator. Since 2003,
693-707: A fuselage diameter of "the Boeing 707 and 727, or do something better" and settled on a wider cross-section with a 3.7 m (12 ft 2 in) internal width, compared to Boeing's 3.45 m (11 ft 4 in). Although heavier, this allowed the A320 to compete more effectively with the 737. The A320 wing went through several design stages, eventually measuring 33.91 m (111 ft 3 in). The UK, France and West Germany wanted responsibility over final assembly and its associated work, known as "work-share arguments". The Germans requested an increased work-share of 40%, while
770-462: A holding company and had 19,300 employees as of March 2007. Its annual turnover, together with that of its subsidiary Alliance Air , was well over ₹40 billions (around US$ 1 billion ). Together with its subsidiary, Alliance Air, Indian Airlines carried a total of over 7.5 million passengers annually. In 2007, the Government of India announced the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines. While
847-453: A new air purifier with filters and a catalytic converter , removing unpleasant smells from the air before it is pumped into the cabin, as well as LEDs for mood lighting and a new passenger service unit (PSU). Offering 10% more overhead bin volume, more shoulder room, a weight reduction, a new intercom and in-flight entertainment system, noise reduction and slimmer PSU, the enhanced cabin can be retrofitted. The flight crew controls
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#1732884768844924-450: A production rate of 63 aircraft per month by 2021, which would result in the 10,000th delivery occurring early that year. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation , demand for new jets was reduced in 2020 and Airbus cut its monthly production from 60 to 40 A320s. In October 2020, the 500th A320 built in Tianjin, an A320neo, was delivered to China Southern , twelve years after
1001-414: A retractable tricycle landing gear and powered by two wing pylon-mounted turbofan engines . After the oil price rises of the 1970s , Airbus needed to minimise the trip fuel costs of the A320. To that end, it adopted composite primary structures for the empennage with a conventional tail configuration, centre-of-gravity control using fuel, a glass cockpit ( EFIS ) with side-stick controllers and
1078-526: A shorter-range twinjet rather than a longer-range quadjet wanted by the West Germans, particularly Lufthansa . However, works proceeded, and the German carrier would eventually order the twinjet. In February 1981 the project was re-designated A320, with efforts focused on the blueprint formerly designated SA2. During the year, Airbus worked with Delta Air Lines on a 150-seat aircraft envisioned and required by
1155-456: A two-crew flight deck. Airbus claimed the 737-300 burns 35% more fuel and has a 16% higher operating cost per seat than the V2500 -powered A320. A 150-seat A320 burns 11,608 kg (25,591 lb) of jet fuel over 2,151 nmi (3,984 km; 2,475 mi) (between Los Angeles and New York City), or 2.43 L/100 km (97 mpg ‑US ) per seat with a 0.8 kg/L fuel. Its wing
1232-494: A wingspan of 31.0 m (101 ft 8 in) and a flight deck similar to that of the A320 family. Costing $ 2 billion (€1.85 billion) to develop, aircraft production was to take place in China. Simultaneously, Airbus was developing the Airbus A318. In early 1998, Airbus revealed that it was designing a 100-seat aircraft based on the A320. The AE31X project was terminated by September 1998, and Airbus officially announced
1309-617: Is 33.8 m (111 ft) long. The A320 is 37.6 m (123 ft) long and can accommodate 150 to 186 passengers. The 44.5 m (146 ft) A321 offers 185 to 230 seats. The Airbus Corporate Jets are modified business jet versions of the standard commercial variants. In December 2010, Airbus announced the re-engined A320neo ( new engine option ), which entered service with Lufthansa in January 2016. With more efficient turbofans and improvements including sharklets , it offers up to 15% better fuel economy . The previous A320 generation
1386-627: Is a commander on Boeing 777 and works for Air India . Indian Airlines Indian Airlines was a state-owned airline in India that later became a division of Air India Limited before ultimately ceasing operations. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international services to neighbouring countries in Asia and limited flights to the Middle East and Southeast Asia. It
1463-742: Is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus . The A320 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 even shorter A318 (July 2003). Final assembly takes place in Toulouse in France; Hamburg in Germany; Tianjin in China since 2009; and Mobile, Alabama in
1540-459: Is long and thin, offering better aerodynamic efficiency because of the higher aspect ratio than the competing 737 and MD-80. The Airbus A320 family are low-wing cantilever monoplanes with a conventional empennage with a single vertical stabiliser and rudder . Its wing sweep is 25 degrees. Compared to other airliners of the same class, the A320 features a wider single-aisle cabin of 3.95 metres (156 in) outside diameter, compared to
1617-688: Is now called A320ceo ( current engine option ). American Airlines is the largest A320 operator with 479 aircraft in its fleet, while IndiGo is the largest customer with 930 aircraft on order. In October 2019, the A320 family surpassed the Boeing 737 to become the highest-selling airliner. As of October 2024 , a total of 18,994 A320 family aircraft had been ordered and 11,707 delivered , of which 10,803 aircraft were in service with more than 350 operators. The global A320 fleet had completed more than 176 million flights over 328 million block hours since its entry into service. The A320ceo initially competed with
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#17328847688441694-757: Is over an orange background with the carrier's name "Indian" written in English on one side of the fuselage, and in Hindi on the other. On 15 May 2007, the Government of India released the new merger livery, which was sent to Boeing in Seattle to repaint all the new fleet coming into the new Air India. Most of the old fleets of Air India and Indian Airlines have also been painted in the new livery. Indian operated short-haul Airbus A320 family aircraft. It offered 2 classes on most sectors: Economy Class and Executive Class. Economy Class had
1771-615: The 737 Classic and the MD-80 , then their successors, the 737 Next Generation (737NG) and the MD-90 respectively, while the 737 MAX is Boeing's response to the A320neo. When Airbus designed the A300 during the late 1960s and early 1970s, it envisaged a broad family of airliners with which to compete against Boeing and Douglas (later McDonnell Douglas ), two established US aerospace manufacturers. From
1848-634: The EUROPLANE , a 180- to 200-seat aircraft. It was abandoned after intruding on A310 specifications. VFW-Fokker , Dornier and Hawker Siddeley worked on a number of 150-seat designs. The design within the JET study that was carried forward was the JET2 (163 passengers), which then became the Airbus S.A1/2/3 series (Single Aisle), before settling on the A320 name for its launch in 1984. Previously, Hawker Siddeley had produced
1925-519: The V2500Select (One) . In 2006, Airbus tested three styles of winglets intended to counteract the wing's lift-induced drag and wingtip vortices more effectively than the previous wingtip fence . The first design type to be tested was developed by Airbus and based on work done by the AWIATOR programme. The second type of winglet incorporated a more blended design and was designed by Winglet Technology,
2002-627: The bond market , through which it raised $ 480 million (€475 million) to finance development costs. An additional $ 180 million (€175 million) was borrowed from the European Investment Bank and private investors. The maiden flight of the Airbus A321 came on 11 March 1993, when the prototype , registration F-WWIA, flew with IAE V2500 engines; the second prototype, equipped with CFM56-5B turbofans, flew in May. Lufthansa and Alitalia were
2079-475: The dark cockpit (where an indicator is off when its system is running; useful for drawing attention to dysfunctions when an indicator is lit) from the A310, the first widebody designed to be operated without a flight engineer and influenced by Bernard Ziegler , first Airbus CEO Henri Ziegler 's son. The A320 is the world's first airliner with digital fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system : input commands through
2156-519: The "Indian" branding was replaced with the Air India branding in the public eye by then, the "IC" and "IAC" codes of IATA and ICAO, respectively, and callsign "INDAIR" continued to be used on flights that were operated by the Airbus A320 family aircraft until 26 February 2011, when Indian Airlines ceased operating under its own brand and codes and completed its merger with Air India. The last plane to bear
2233-400: The 3,588 nautical miles (6,645 km; 4,129 mi) great circle route to Winnipeg , Manitoba from Hamburg in 9 hours and 5 minutes. The A319 has proven popular with low-cost airlines such as EasyJet , which purchased 172 of them. The A318 was born out of mid-1990 studies between Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), Singapore Technologies Aerospace , Alenia and Airbus on
2310-496: The 3.8 m (148 in) of the Boeing 737 or 757 , and larger overhead bins. Its cargo hold can accommodate unit load device containers. The A320 airframe includes composite materials and aluminium alloys to save weight and reduce the total number of parts to decrease the maintenance costs. Its tail assembly is made almost entirely of such composites by CASA, which also builds the elevators , main landing gear doors, and rear fuselage parts. The A320 flight deck features
2387-533: The A318 at that year's Farnborough Airshow. The aircraft was the smallest in Airbus's product range, and was developed coincidentally at the same time as the largest commercial aircraft in history, the Airbus A380 . First called A319M5 in as early as March 1995, it was shorter by 0.79-metre (2 ft 7 in) ahead of the wing and 1.6 metres (5 ft 3 in) behind. These cuts reduced passenger capacity from 124 on
Nivedita Bhasin - Misplaced Pages Continue
2464-452: The A319 to 107 passengers in a two-class layout. Range was 5,700 kilometres (3,100 nmi; 3,500 mi), or 5,950 kilometres (3,210 nmi; 3,700 mi) with upcoming Sharklets . The 107-seater was launched on 26 April 1999 with the options and orders count at 109 aircraft. After three years of design, the maiden flight took place at Hamburg on 15 January 2002. Tests on the lead engine,
2541-515: The A320 has featured liquid crystal display (LCD) units on the flight deck instead of the original cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays. These include both main displays and the backup artificial horizon , which also previously had an analogue display. Airbus offers an avionics upgrade for older A320 aircraft, the In-Service Enhancement Package, to keep them updated. Digital head-up displays are also available. The A320 retained
2618-504: The A320 overall. The length increase required enlarged overwing exits, which were repositioned in front of and behind the wings. The centre fuselage and undercarriage were reinforced to accommodate an increase in maximum takeoff weight of 9,600 kg (21,200 lb), for a total of 83,000 kg (183,000 lb). Final assembly for the A321 would be, as a first for any Airbus, carried out in Germany (then West Germany). This came after
2695-408: The A320 was to be named A30X . In 2007, Airbus North America President Barry Eccleston stated that the earliest the aircraft could have been available was 2017. In January 2010, John Leahy , Airbus's chief operating officer-customers, stated that an all-new single-aisle aircraft was unlikely to be constructed before 2024 or 2025. The Airbus A320 family are narrow-body (single-aisle) aircraft with
2772-529: The A320 was to be supplied by two CFM56-5-A1s rated at 111 kN (25,000 pounds-force). It was the only engine available until the arrival of the IAE V2500 , offered by International Aero Engines , a group composed of Rolls-Royce plc , Pratt & Whitney , Japanese Aero Engine Corporation , Fiat and MTU . The first V2500 variant, the V2500-A1, has a thrust output of 110 kN (25,000 pounds-force ), hence
2849-589: The Airbus A320neo. The first sharklet-equipped Airbus A320 was delivered to Indonesia AirAsia on 21 December 2012, offering a 450 kg (990 lb) payload and 100 nmi (190 km; 120 mi) range increases over the original aircraft specifications. In 2007, Airbus introduced a new enhanced, quieter cabin with better luggage storage and a more modern look and feel, and a new galley that reduced weight, increased revenue space and improved ergonomics and design for food hygiene and recycling. It offered
2926-677: The Airbus Americas factory in Mobile, Alabama . Airbus produced a total of 42 A320s per month in 2015, and expected to increase to 50 per month in 2017. Production of parts takes place in a large number of countries around the world. For example, the centre fuselage is made in Hamburg, Germany; the horizontal stabiliser is produced in Getafe, Spain; and the rudder is produced in Harbin, China. As Airbus targets
3003-498: The British wanted the major responsibilities to be swapped around to give partners production and research and development experience. In the end, British work-share was increased from that of the two previous Airbuses. France was willing to commit to launch aid, or subsidies, while the Germans were more cautious. The UK government was unwilling to provide funding for the tooling, requested by BAe and estimated at £ 250 million; it
3080-471: The Government of India announced that Indian Airlines would be merged into Air India Limited as its wholly owned subsidiary . As part of the merger process, a new company called the National Aviation Company of India Limited (now called Air India Limited) was established, into which both Air India (along with Air India Express ) and Indian (along with Alliance Air) would be merged. Once the merger
3157-531: The Government of India in the early 1990s ended Indian Airlines' dominance of India's domestic air transport industry. The Indian Government liberalised the private sector in Early 90s and with the emergence of new competitors, Indian Airlines faced tough competition from Jet Airways , Air Sahara , East-West Airlines , Skyline NEPC and ModiLuft . Yet, until 2005, Indian Airlines was the second-largest airline in India after Jet Airways while Air Sahara controlled 17% of
Nivedita Bhasin - Misplaced Pages Continue
3234-549: The Indian aviation industry. During that time few other domestic carriers like East-West Airlines, Skyline NEPC and ModiLuft discontinued their flight operations. Also, during 1993, another government-established regional feeder airline called Vayudoot was merged with Indian Airlines, but still operated as a standalone division until 1997 after which its entire flight operations were transferred to Indian Airlines and its employees absorbed into Indian Airlines and Air India. Since 2003,
3311-467: The MTOW of 53.3 t (118,000 lb) for the smaller version and 58 t (128,000 lb) for the AE317, the thrust requirement were 77.9–84.6 kN (17,500–19,000 lbf) and 84.6–91.2 kN (19,000–20,500 lbf), respectively. Range was settled at 5,200 km (2,800 nmi; 3,200 mi) and 5,800 km (3,100 nmi; 3,600 mi) for the high gross weights of both variants. Both share
3388-509: The PW6000, revealed worse-than-expected fuel consumption. Consequently, Pratt & Whitney abandoned the five-stage high-pressure compressor (HPC) for the MTU-designed six-stage HPC. The 129 order book for the A318 shrunk to 80 largely because of switches to other A320 family members. After 17 months of flight certification, during which 850 hours and 350 flights were accumulated, JAA certification
3465-701: The United States since April 2016. The twinjet has a six-abreast economy cross-section and came with either CFM56 or IAE V2500 turbofan engines, except the CFM56/ PW6000 powered A318. The family pioneered the use of digital fly-by-wire and side-stick flight controls in airliners. Variants offer maximum take-off weights from 68 to 93.5 tonnes (150,000 to 206,000 lb), to cover a 5,740–6,940 kilometres ; 3,570–4,320 miles (3,100–3,750 nmi) range . The 31.4 m (103 ft) long A318 typically accommodates 107 to 132 passengers. The 124-156 seat A319
3542-422: The airline. The A320 would carry 150 passengers over 2,850 or 1,860 nmi (5,280 or 3,440 km; 3,280 or 2,140 mi) using fuel from wing fuel tanks only. The -200 had the centre tank activated, increasing fuel capacity from 15,590 to 23,430 L (3,429 to 5,154 imp gal). They would measure 36.04 and 39.24 m (118 ft 3 in and 128 ft 9 in), respectively. Airbus considered
3619-421: The cabin through touchscreen displays. The A320neo ( neo for new engine option ) is a development launched on 1 December 2010, making its first flight on 25 September 2014 and introduced by Lufthansa on 25 January 2016. Re-engined with CFM International LEAP -1A or Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engines and with large sharklets, it was designed to be 15% more fuel efficient. Its three variants are based on
3696-512: The company was under the title of Indian Airlines, to celebrate its 50th year of service the airline put the slogan "50 years of flying" in gold on many of their aircraft. After the name change to Indian , the company's aircraft sported a new look inspired by the Sun Temple at Konark in Odisha . The tail of their aircraft had a partial blue wheel since practically over half of it is cut off. The wheel
3773-543: The consortium focused on its bigger siblings. After healthy sales of the A320/A321, Airbus focused once more on what was then known as the A320M-7 , meaning A320 minus seven fuselage frames . It would provide direct competition for the 737-300 / -700 . The shrink was achieved through the removal of four fuselage frames fore and three aft of the wing, cutting the overall length by 3.73 metres (12 ft 3 in). Consequently,
3850-634: The domestic wing of Air India, were merged to form the new domestic national carrier Indian Airlines Corporation. International operations of Air India Ltd. was taken over by the newly formed Air India International. Indian Airlines Corporation inherited a fleet of 99 aircraft including 74 Douglas DC-3 Dakotas , 12 Vickers Vikings , 3 Douglas DC-4s and various smaller types from the seven airlines that made it up. Vickers Viscounts were introduced in 1957 with Fokker F27 Friendships being delivered from 1961. The 1960s also saw Hawker Siddeley HS 748s , manufactured in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited , join
3927-478: The final Indian Airlines livery, an Airbus A319 registered as VT-SCF was repainted in the Air India livery in 2018. Indian had codeshare agreements with the following airlines: As of 2007, Indian operated an all-Airbus fleet consisting of the A320 family . The aircraft livery used while the company was called Indian Airlines was one of the longest in continuous use in the entire airline industry. The logo (IA) and
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#17328847688444004-519: The final assembly line start in 2008. In 2006, Airbus started the A320 Enhanced (A320E) programme as a series of improvements targeting a 4–5% efficiency gain, with large winglets (2%), aerodynamic refinements (1%), weight savings and a new aircraft cabin . Engine improvements that reduced fuel consumption by 1% were made to the A320 in 2007 with the CFM56 Tech Insertion and in 2008 with
4081-480: The first to order the stretched Airbuses, with 20 and 40 aircraft, respectively. The first of Lufthansa's V2500-A5-powered A321s arrived on 27 January 1994, while Alitalia received its first CFM56-5B-powered aircraft on 22 March. The A319 was the following derivative of the baseline A320. The design was a "shrink", with its origins in the 130- to 140-seat SA1, part of the Single-Aisle studies, which had been shelved as
4158-435: The fleet. The jet age began for IAC with the introduction of the pure-jet Sud Aviation Caravelle airliner in 1964, followed by Boeing 737-200s in the early 1970s. April 1976 saw the first three Airbus A300 wide-body jets being introduced. The regional airline, Vayudoot , which had been established in 1981, was later reintegrated. By 1988, Airbus A320-200s were introduced. The economic liberalisation process initiated by
4235-535: The following day. The certification programme took 350 airborne hours involving two aircraft. Certification for the CFM56-5B6/2-equipped variant was granted in April 1996, and qualification for the V2524-A5 started the following month. Delivery of the first A319, to Swissair , occurred on 25 April 1996; it entered service by month's end. In January 1997, an A319 broke a record during a delivery flight by flying
4312-415: The livery were designed by National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad . Its aircraft were mainly white, with the belly painted in light metallic grey. Above the windows, "Indian Airlines" was written in English on the starboard side and in Hindi on port side. The tail was bright orange, with its logo in white. In most of the aircraft, the logo was also painted on the engines over its bare metal colour. Also, when
4389-444: The long-range Airbus A310 . Airbus then focused its efforts on the single-aisle market, which was dominated by the 737 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9 . Plans from a number of European aircraft manufacturers called for a successor to the relatively successful BAC One-Eleven , and to replace the 737-200 and DC-9. Germany's MBB ( Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm ), British Aircraft Corporation , Sweden's Saab and Spain's CASA worked on
4466-596: The moment of formation, Airbus had begun studies into derivatives of the Airbus A300B in support of this long-term goal. Prior to the service introduction of the first Airbus airliners, engineers within Airbus had identified nine possible variations of the A300 known as A300B1 to B9. A 10th variation, conceived in 1973, later the first to be constructed, was designated the A300B10. It was a smaller aircraft which would be developed into
4543-552: The most significant orders occurred when Northwest Airlines placed an order for 100 A320s in October 1986, powered by CFM56 engines, later confirmed at the 1990 Farnborough Airshow . During A320 development, Airbus considered propfan technology, which was backed by Lufthansa . At the time unproven, the technology essentially consisted of a fan placed outside the engine nacelle , offering turbofan speeds and turboprop economics; ultimately, Airbus stuck with turbofans . Power on
4620-724: The name. It is 4% more efficient than the CFM56, with cruise thrust-specific fuel consumption for the -A5 at 16.3 and 16.9 g/kN/s (0.58 and 0.60 lb/lbf/h) for the CFM56-5A1. In the presence of then- French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac and the Prince and Princess of Wales , the first A320 was rolled out of the final assembly line at Toulouse on 14 February 1987 and made its maiden flight on 22 February in 3 hours and 23 minutes. The flight test programme took 1,200 hours over 530 flights. European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) certification
4697-403: The new model from 22 May 1992, with the actual launch of the $ 275 million (€250 million) programme occurring on 10 June 1993; the A319's first customer was ILFC , which signed for six aircraft. On 23 March 1995, the first A319 underwent final assembly at Airbus' German plant in Hamburg, where A321s were also assembled. It was rolled out on 24 August 1995, with the maiden flight taking place
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#17328847688444774-539: 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 . Minor software changes were made to accommodate the different handling characteristics; otherwise the aircraft was largely unchanged. Power is provided by the CFM56-5A, CFM56-5B, or V2500-A5, derated to 98 kN (22,000 lbf), with option for 105 kN (24,000 lbf) thrust. Airbus began offering
4851-466: The previous A319, A320 and A321. Airbus received 6,031 orders by March 2018 and delivered 318 by May 2018. The original family was renamed A320ceo, for current engine option . As of July 2024, IndiGo has 173 Airbus A320neos under service, making it the largest operator of this type of aircraft. In 2006, Airbus was studying a future replacement for the A320 series, tentatively dubbed as NSR or "New Short-Range aircraft". The follow-on aircraft to replace
4928-438: The rise of low-cost domestic competitors Air Deccan , SpiceJet , IndiGo , GoAir and Kingfisher Airlines along with its low-cost arm Kingfisher Red led Indian to reduce airfares. However, as of 2006, Indian Airlines was still a profit-making airline; in fact during 2004–2005 it made a record profit of ₹656.1 million . Indian Airlines Limited was partly owned by the Government of India (51% of share capital) through
5005-507: The same lines as happened in the United Kingdom with British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA). Air India took over international routes and Indian Airlines Corporation (IAC) took over the domestic and regional routes. Eight pre-Independence domestic airlines, Deccan Airways , Airways India, Bharat Airways, Himalayan Aviation , Kalinga Airlines , Indian National Airways , Air Services of India and
5082-437: The typical 3-3 seating of a narrow-body Airbus aircraft. Passengers were offered complimentary meals. The Executive Class seat configuration was 2-2 with a generous recline. Meals were more lavish. Given below is a chart of trend of profitability of Indian Airlines as published in the 2004 annual report by Ministry of Civil Aviation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees. Airbus A320 family The Airbus A320 family
5159-436: The weight of the modifications required negated any aerodynamic benefits. On 17 December 2008, Airbus announced it was to begin flight testing an existing blended winglet design developed by Aviation Partners Inc. as part of an A320 modernisation programme using the A320 prototype. Airbus launched the sharklet blended winglets during the November 2009 Dubai Airshow . Installation adds 200 kg (440 lb) but offers
5236-435: Was a division of Air India Limited after the merger of eight pre-Independence domestic airlines. On 10 December 2005, the airline was rebranded as Indian for advertising purposes as a part of a program to revamp its image in preparation for an initial public offering (IPO). The airline operated closely with Air India , India's national overseas carrier. Alliance Air was a fully owned subsidiary of Indian. In 2007,
5313-622: Was awarded on 26 February 1988. The first A320 was delivered to Air France on 28 March, and began commercial service on 8 April with a flight between Paris and Berlin via Düsseldorf . In 1988, the clean-sheet aircraft program cost was 5.486 billion French francs . The first derivative of the A320 was the Airbus A321 , also known as the Stretched A320 , A320-500 and A325 . Its launch came on 24 November 1988 after commitments for 183 aircraft from 10 customers were secured. The aircraft
5390-465: Was based at the then BAe (formerly Vickers ) site in Weybridge , Surrey , UK. Although the members were all of Airbus' partners, they regarded the project as a separate collaboration from Airbus. This project was considered the forerunner of Airbus A320, encompassing the 130- to 188-seat market, powered by two CFM56s . It would have a cruise speed of Mach 0.84 (faster than the Boeing 737). The programme
5467-572: Was completed on 26 February 2011, the airline – called Air India – would continue to be headquartered in Mumbai and would have a fleet of over 130 aircraft. The airline was set up under the Air Corporations Act, 1953 with an initial capital of ₹32 million and started operations on 1 August 1953. It was established after legislation came into force to nationalise the entire airline industry in India. Two new national airlines were to be formed along
5544-431: Was its first customer to sign a "letter of intent" for 25 A320s and options for 25 more at the 1981 Paris Air Show . In October 1983, British Caledonian placed seven firm orders, bringing total orders to more than 80. Cyprus Airways became the first customer to place an order for V2500-powered A320s in November 1984, followed by Pan Am with 16 firm orders and 34 options in January 1985, and then Inex Adria . One of
5621-531: Was later transferred to Airbus, leading up to the creation of the Single-Aisle (SA) studies in 1980, led by former leader of the JET programme, Derek Brown. The group looked at three different variants, covering the 125- to 180-seat market, called SA1 , SA2 and SA3 . Although unaware at the time, the consortium was producing the blueprints for the A319, A320 and A321, respectively. The single-aisle programme created divisions within Airbus about whether to design
5698-613: Was obtained for the CFM56-powered variant on 23 May 2003. On 22 July 2003, first delivery for launch customer Frontier Airlines occurred, entering service before the end of the month. The Toulouse Blagnac final assembly line builds A320s, whereas the Hamburg Finkenwerder final assembly line builds A318s, A319s, and A321s. The Airbus factory in Tianjin , China assembles A319s, A320s, and A321s; A320s and A321s are also assembled at
5775-441: Was outputting 4.5 A320s per month, raising to five by the end of the year. In September 2019, Airbus reached a milestone with the delivery of the 9000th A320-family aircraft, to Easyjet. In October 2019, Airbus inaugurated a highly automated fuselage structure assembly line for A320 Family aircraft in Hamburg, showcasing an evolution in Airbus' industrial production system. Production rates continue to rise, and Airbus aims to reach
5852-444: Was postponed for three years. On 1 March 1984, the British government and BAe agreed that £50 million would be paid, whether the A320 flew or not, while the rest would be paid as a levy on each aircraft sold. In 1984, the program cost was then estimated at £2 billion ($ 2.8 billion) by Flight International, equivalent to £8 billion today. The programme was launched on 2 March 1984. At the time, Airbus had 96 orders. Air France
5929-448: Was to be a minimally changed derivative, apart from minor wing modifications and the fuselage stretch itself. The wing would incorporate double-slotted flaps and minor trailing edge modifications, increasing wing area from 124 m (1,330 sq ft) to 128 m (1,380 sq ft). The fuselage was lengthened by four plugs (two ahead and two behind the wings), making the A321 6.94 metres (22 ft 9 in) longer than
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