JetTrak: Friday Feature

The first 1,000 Airbus A320 family aircraft...current status

Airbus A320 MSN 001 F-WWAI June 14th 1987 Paris Le Bourget (the first of many).

Disposition Statistics

It took Airbus over 11 years to deliver the first 1,000 A320 family aircraft, between March 26th 1988 and May 20th 1999. Some 18 years later an additional 6,700 have been delivered, with total deliveries now heading rapidly towards 8,000 units, a remarkable achievement that could not have been envisioned in 1988 (even by Airbus).

This feature takes a look at the disposition of that first 1,000 aircraft, the initial operators of the first 100 delivered, and a photo essay of the oldest A320 still in service (MSN 029).

Of that first 1,000 deliveries: these comprise A319 x 136, A320 x 731 and A321 x 133

A319

132 of the 136 A319s delivered remain in service, 3 are stored, 1 permanently retired.

A320

402 of the 731 A320s delivered remain in service, 87 are stored, 221 permanently retired, 21 written off.

A321

99 of the 133 A321s delivered remain in service, 13 are stored, 19 permanently retired, 2 written off.

Overall, of the 1,000 aircraft, 663 are in service (63%), 103 stored (10%), 241 retired (24%), 23 written off (2%).

276 of the 1,000 aircraft remain in service with their original operators.

The first 100 aircraft delivered by customer

A320-111 MSN 005 Air France F-GFKA [Delivered March 26th 1988, Retired July 2010]

As launch customer, Air France has remained steadfast in it's reliance on the A320 family, one of few airlines to operate all four variants of the family. An early embarrassment was the loss of it's third A320 delivered during an ill advised low field pass at an air show June 26th 1988, just three days after delivery. It continues to refresh it's A320 fleet with new build aircraft, while phasing out older examples.

A320-111 MSN 006 British Airways (British Caledonian) G-BUSB [Delivered March 31st 1988, Retired November 2007]

British Airways also operates all four Airbus A320 family models, but when this first delivery was made, that was an unlikely scenario at the time. Inheriting an order of ten A320s from it's March 31st 1988 acquisition of British Caledonian, it was widely expected that this orphan fleet would not last long at pro-Boeing BA. In the event, the niche fleet survived a full term, and ultimately from late 1999 onwards BA began replacing it's entire Boeing short haul fleet with newly ordered A320 family aircraft.

A320-111 MSN 010 Air Inter F-GGEA [Delivered June 17th 1988, Retired October 2009 (Air France)]

French domestic airline Air Inter acquired A320s (and later A319s and A321s) to replace it's aging fleet of Caravelles and Mercures. Like Air France, the aircraft had a troubled service entry, with the loss of it's fourth aircraft in a crash on approach to Strasbourg January 20th 1992. The airline was acquired and subsumed into Air France January 1st 1996. As of now, just one (of 35) ex-Air Inter A320s (F-GHQM) survives in service with Air France. The majority of A319s, and all A321s remain in service with the carrier.

A320-211 MSN 022 Ansett Airlines VH-HYA [Delivered November 18th 1988, Retired September 2006 (HiFly CS-TQG)]

Ansett was the first airline to receive an A320-200 (only 20 A320-100s were delivered to Air France, Air Inter and British Airways). Distinguished only by it's wingtip fences, this variant, powered by either CFM or IAE engines would remain the baseline model until enhanced winglet equipped (sharklets) models appeared a few years ago, a precursor to the A320 NEO. Ansett enjoyed a decade or so of A320 operations until it's demise March 4th 2002.

A320-231 MSN 043 Adria Airways YU-AOA [Delivered May 16th 1989, Retired September 2010]

Adria dates back to it's creation as Inex-Adria in 1961. Initially operating DC-6Bs, the airline acquired DC-9 jets in 1969, and was an early customer for the MD-80. Some 26 years after the DC-6, the airline became the first airline to operate the IAE powered A320. Having survived the Balkan war, the airline now operates three A319s and ten CRJ-700/900 aircraft from it's Ljubljana base.

A320-231 MSN 028 Cyprus Airways 5B-DAT [Delivered May 19th 1989, Retired October 2004]

Cyprus Airways became the second IAE powered A320 customer, acquiring nine new and five used aircraft. Four A319s and two A321s were also later acquired. The airline ceased operations January 9th 2015.

A320-211 MSN 031 Northwest Airlines N301US [Delivered June 6th 1989, Retired November 2008]

Northwest's order for A320s was Airbus' major breakthrough in the United States, and a shock to the industry at the time, especially to Boeing. Airbus' sales supremo John Leahy's first major scalp was followed by others, such as United and US Airways. Most Northwest A320s (and A319s) made their way to Delta following the airline's January 1st 2010 merger, with Delta now adding it's own newly ordered A321s.

A320-231 MSN 045 Indian Airlines VT-EPB [Delivered June 21st 1989, Retired January 2016 (Air India)]

Upgrading from 737-200s to A320s was a challenge for Indian Airlines. Following the (Feb 14th 1990) crash of one it's new A320s, the entire IAC fleet was grounded for a few months to allow for additional training and familiarization of the new aircraft. Now merged with Air India, the majority of IAC's early build A320s are now retired, with new aircraft (including A320 NEOs) being delivered to Air India.

A320-231 MSN 052 Braniff N901BN [Delivered July 13th 1989, Retired August 2014 (US Airways)]

The second iteration of Braniff was already financially challenged when it took delivery of it's first A320. Just five were delivered in the second half of 1989 before the airline ceased operations in late December. These and numerous others destined for Braniff went on to serve America West Airlines, paving the way for the post-deregulation start up to eventually replace it's 737 fleet.

A320-211 MSN 069 Lufthansa D-AIPA [Delivered October 16th 1989, Currently In Service]

Lufthansa still operates many of it's early build A320s, and has subsequently placed follow on orders for A320 family aircraft that have now enabled the complete replacement of it's once substantial fleet of 737s. Lufthansa and subsidiary Eurowings currently operate 267 A320 family aircraft.

A320-211 MSN 059 Air Canada C-FDQQ [Delivered January 19th 1990, Currently In Service]

Air Canada acquired A320s (and later A319/A321s) to replace it's DC-9 and 727 fleet. Air Canada and subsidiary Air Canada Rouge currently operate 100 A320 family aircraft. From 2018 that fleet will start to diminish as Boeing 737 MAX 8s replace the A320s. Bombardier CSeries are also on order to replace A319s.

A320-211 MSN 087 Royal Jordanian F-OGYA [Delivered March 19th 1990, Retired October 2009 (Hellas Jet SX-BVL)]

Royal Jordanian operated five early build CFM powered A320s, later switching to IAE powered A319s, A320s and A321s, with 12 aircraft currently in it's fleet.

The oldest A320 still in service

A320-211 MSN 029 F/F January 5th 1989