TERRY SMITH looks at this ubiquitous jetliner seen around the world.
I love this photo! The weather had been very dull until a chink of sunshine lit up this Easyjet A320 landing at Gatwick while I was plane spotting on a Sunday afternoon.
If you have flown anywhere in the last 20 years, then chances are you have been on one of these hugely popular aircraft. With myself making around 8-10 flights per year and often using Easyjet, I can’t tell you how many A320s I have flown in, and I don’t think I have ever had a bad flight. I have a few great memories though, such as the time I had a cockpit ride in the Jump Seat to Venice and back in one. Another time, at Innsbruck, the Easyjet cabin staff seemed over excited, and it turned out the plane was brand new. It had, after its acceptance flight from Toulouse, just been delivered to the airport in Austria. I had to say, it was a great feeling sitting in a brand-new plane that no passengers had ever travelled in before.
The plane was designed to compete in the short- to medium-haul market, dominated by Boeing’s 737 and the MD80. It was launched in March 1984, with its first flight on 22 February 1987 and was first introduced into commercial operation by Air France in 1988. The A320 featured state of the art fly-by-wire operating systems and was the first airliner that the pilots controlled by joystick. The first member of the family was followed by the longer A321, the shorter A319, and the even shorter still A318 and these aircraft represent the most successful and versatile jetliner family ever. Seating between 100 to 240 passengers, and flying throughout the world, an A320 takes off or lands every 1.6 seconds. From the heat of the desert to icy Antarctic runways, or from short runway urban environments to remote high-altitude airports, the A320 can take passengers practically anywhere. While operated by almost most the world's commercial airlines, domestically the UK based budget airline Easyjet’s fleet is made up entirely of this family of aircraft, owning 165 planes, and while once a Boeing stalwart, British Airways have replaced all their 737s with 140 of these jet airliners from Airbus.
As the longest-range single-aisle aircraft, many airlines and passengers alike have benefitted from the A320’s exceptional efficiency and interior space as it is also the widest single-aisle aircraft in service. Now with new NEO engine options available, the A320 Family continues setting the standard for the class in this market and with almost 10,000 being built, securing its status as the world’s best-selling aircraft of all time.
The plane was of course of the type that Captain Sully of US Airways successfully splash-landed on the Hudson River, New York with no loss of life and only minor injuries to the crew and passengers in 2009. The story was told in the 2016 movie by Clint Eastwood, ‘Sully’ and starred Tom Hanks in the lead role.
Perhaps rather surprisingly the plane has also been immortalised in a song by the rock band Foo Fighters. Here are some of the Lyrics from ‘A320’, which featured on the soundtrack of the 1998 movie ‘Godzilla’.
“Close my eyes and hope that it's a
Real smooth flight, this time
Close my eyes and hope that it's a
Real smooth flight
And it's good
This time.”
Fans of the band often refer to this as a hidden gem from the band originating from Seattle – a bit ironic as that is the home of Boeing!
The view I had from the Jump seat on a A320 cockpit ride on a return Monarch flight to Venice.
A British Airways Airbus landing at Heathrow. I took this photo from a playing field at the end of Myrtle Avenue, Hatton. A great place to see planes land, just to the south of the capital's airport.
A common view for me, as I have visited Innsbruck airport many times. This picture is taken from a balcony above the departure gates. Two Easyjet A320s are seen here, I was coming back to Gatwick on the plane at the rear.
Just after take-off from Innsbruck, the view from the window of the Alps from the A320. I usually book a window seat on this type of aircraft back in around row 29 to get a clearer view.