Airbus, a French airplane manufacturer, was able to fight back with the A300 and the A310 as their answer to the Boeing 767. However, they weren't able to battle against the American builder's succes with the three-engined 727 and the four-engined 737. In the early stages of the 80's this changed. That's when the developement of the A320-Familty started. With newer technological advances than the 727 and 737 they attempted to gain more customers. Moreover the Airbus A320 fuel consumption was about 50% less. Which was a welcome extra because of the high oil prices. This was achieved by the new fly-by-wire-systems, digital instruments and a system that kept the balance right by moving fuel from one place to another.
Because the flight-costs were kept low, the French attracted a lot of budget-airlines such as EasyJet

The A320 is being built in factories in Toulouse, France. The brothers of this aircaft (A318, A319 and A321) come from Hamburg, Germany. It can be expected that the production of the A320 will move to that factory because of the recent re-organization plans. Most of the parts are transported by the Beluga, which belongs to Airbus. Meanwhile a facotory has been built in China, which will deliver the new Chinese A320's that are expected between 2009-2012.
The A320-family is the one that's produced the fastest. At the end of 2006, 30 of these machines rolled out of the factory per month. The first months of 2007 were good for 32 jets per month, and the aim for march 2008 is 34 planes per month. The final goal is to produce 40 of these aircraft per month at the end of 2009

The A320-family consists out of four airplanes: the A320 that was first produced, followed by the A319, A321 and A318. The A319 is the shorter version of the A320, while the A321 is the longer counterpart. The newest contender is the A318, also known as the baby bus, is the smallest member of the family. Each variant has it's own subtypes.

Airbus A320 (1988)

The A320 is the oldest member. It's the direct opponent of the Boeing 737-800. You can recognise it from the two emergency doors above each wing.

A320-100

The very first version of the A320 is the -100. Only 21 have been built. Recognisable from the wings without winglets.

A320-200

The -200 is the 'real' production version. Equipped with the for Airbus characteristic winglets it's fairly easy to recognise. In comparison with the -100 there are almost no differences except for the range. The plane offers space to 150 passengers.

Airbus A319

The second model in the A320-family is the A319. It's a smaller than the A320 and this caused one of the two emergency doors to be removed. Normally 124 people are able to fit in. EasyJet however has a version without a kitchen. This way they can cram 156 seats into the jet. This is also why the emergency exit was refitted. The airline has made one of the biggest airplane orders of all time. They ordered 120 A319's and have options for another 120. The big counterpart for the A319 is the 737-700.

A319 CJ (Corporate Jet)

Airbus has, just like Boeing with the 737, modified their most popular jet to be used as a private airplane.

A319 LR (Long Range)

A few airlines wanted to have planes with a bigger range. That's why Airbus built a passenger version of the A319 which could cope with the demand. The range was now 8.300 kilometer, instead of the previous 3.350 which is a big improvement. The LR is usually used for exclusive journeys only, and is mostly fitted with business-class seats.

Airbus A321

The extended version of the A320 was introduced as the A321>. It was designed to be the contender with bigger models such as the Boeing 737, 757 and the 767.

A321-100

The -100 has a range of over 4000 kilometer and offers place to 186 passengers.

A321-200

The fueltanks are bigger with a range of 5.600 kilometer as a result. 196 passengers can be crammed into this airplane, besides that the engines are a bit stronger than the ones fitted in the A321-100.

Airbus A318

The A318 is the latest addition to the family. When the airplane was still in developement it was called the A319M3. The suffix M3 stood for the minus 3 fuselage sections. The big difference with the other models is that because it's shorter, it weights less as well. The machine has lost 14.000 kilo and only 109 passengers can enter the plane. The A318, that got some upgrades from it's big brother the A380, sells better than it's direct contender, the 737-600. With only 100 orders, it still won't run as good as they'd like to do.
Maybe the amount of sales can increase in because in 2006 the airplane has been certified for steep take-offs and landings at London City Airport. This way can this airplane fill the gap in the selection of EADS, which occured when the production of the BAE 146/ Avro RJ was stopped.

A318 Elite

The elite for the A318, is what the Corporate Jet is for the A319; A private airplane. This new machine was added on November the 10^th and can keep 14-18 passengers within it's hull. The engines come off a CFM International

At the moment work has began on the A30X, which is expected to replace the A320-Family; eventually. This new airplane will not even hit the market before 2017

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