Airbus A320 Spotting Guide, A320 Family Comparison Charts, A320neo, Tips for Airbus Spotters, Development, Photographs, and Production

"Start Here" ... Shenzhen Airlines Airbus A320

The Airbus A320 is a short-to-medium range, twin-engine, narrow-bodied airliner.

It was launched in March of 1984, first flew in February of 1987, and was first delivered in March of 1988 to launch customer Air France.

The A320 is the world’s first airliner with a digital fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system, in which controls from the pilot are transmitted to moving aircraft parts by electronic signals rather than mechanical means.

The A320 also employs a relatively high percentage of composite materials. Its design also included a full glass cockpit rather than the hybrid versions found in previous airliners.

The initial model was the A320-1xx, with only 21 produced. It was followed by the A320-2xx, which featured increased maximum takeoff weight, greater range and winglets.

Typical seating in the A320 ranges from 150 to 186 passengers. Its range is 3,300 nm.

A main competitor to the A320 series is the Boeing 737.

A320 Family Specifications

The A320 subsequently evolved into the shorter A318 and A319, and the stretched A321.

More than 9,250 A320 family airliners have been built between 1986 and December, 2019, and the series remains a popular element in the fleets of more than 300 airlines around the world. American Airlines is the largest operator of the series, with nearly 400 aircraft in service. In addition, over 6,000 are on order.

The A320 was the basis for other members of the family:

stretched Airbus A321 (1994)
shortened A319 (1996)
further shortened A318 (2003)

A320 Model	Overall Length	Typical Seating	Range
A318	103' 2"	107-132	3,100nm
A319	111' 0"	124-156	3,750nm
A320	123' 3"	150-186	3,300nm
A321	146' 0"	185-236	3,200nm

Spotter's guide for the Airbus A320 family of jetliners:
A318, A319, A320 and A321

For more information on the A320 family, visit the official website of Airbus Commercial Aircraft

Spotting guide for the Airbus A320 family of jetliners

Airbus A320 Family Orders and Deliveries

Total Airbus A320 family orders and deliveries are shown in the table below (through January 2020).

Airbus A330 Model	Orders	Deliveries
A318 (ceo)	80	80
A319 (ceo)	1,486	1,479
A320 (ceo)	4,770	4,749
A321 (ceo)	1,791	1,754
A319 (neo)	84	2
A320 (neo)	3,938	913
A321 (neo)	3,373	296
TOTAL	15,522	9,273

Spotting Guide for the Airbus A320

The A320 has two engines under the wings, two dual-wheel main landing gear, two cabin doors along the fuselage, two emergency exits over the wing, and the classic Airbus nose featuring the "notched" window.

$The A320 has two engines under the wings, two dual-wheel main landing gear, two cabin doors along the fuselage, two emergency exits over the wing, and the classic Airbus nose featuring the "notched" window.\$

Saudia Airbus A320 (Photo by DELEHELLE Eric)

A320 DON BASS AERO, Registration UR-DAB (Photo by DELEHELLE Eric)

A320neo Series

In December 2010, Airbus announced a new generation of the A320 family, the A320neo (New Engine Option). Earlier models became known as CEO (Current Engine Option) aircraft.

Variants in the series include the A319neo, A320neo and the A321neo.

The A320neo offers new, more efficient engines, combined with airframe improvements and the addition of winglets, named Sharklets by Airbus. The aircraft will deliver fuel savings of up to 15%.

The baseline A320neo jetliner has a choice of two new-generation engines, the PurePower PW1100G-JM from Pratt and Whitney and the LEAP-1A from CFM International.

The first A320neo was delivered to Lufthansa in January of 2016.

Under fuselage view of A320néo of Air Malta, Registration 9H-NEO (Photo by DELEHELLE Eric)

FlyScoot Airbus A320néo (Photo by DELEHELLE Eric)

Airbus A320néo of Volaris Airlines

Jazeera Airways Airbus A320néo, F-WWBC, at Châteauroux-Centre Airport in 2021
(Photo by DELEHELLE Eric)

EasyJet A320néo (photo courtesy of Airbus)

Lufthansa A320néo D-AINM in new livery - 2018 (Photo by DELEHELLE Eric)

Viva A320néo aérobus (Photo by DELEHELLE Eric)

Shown below is a side-by-side comparison of the Airbus A320ceo and A320neo. The major visible, external differences lie in the engines and wingtips.

The A320ceo has smaller engines with no small top/bottom extensions at the rear of the engines as does the A320neo.

The A320ceo has small, triangular wingtips, and the A320neo has "sharklets".

In addition to being standard on A320neo aircraft, sharklets are available for new-production A320ceo versions, and offered as an a retrofit solution on earlier-built A320-series aircraft.

Side-by-side comparison of the Airbus A320ceo and A320neo

Airbus A320ceo Engine

Airbus A320neo Engine

Airbus A320 and A319 Comparison Guide

Airplane spotter's guide for the Airbus A319 and A320 is included below. The A319 has only one emergency exit door over each wing, while the A320 has two exit doors over the wing.

Spotting guide for the Airbus A319 and A320

A Few Notable Differences Between the Airbus A320 Series and the Boeing 737

The typical Airbus airliner features a "rounded nose" with windshield straight across the bottom, and the rear windshield window "notched"

The classic Boeing airliner has a "pointed nose" with a "V-shaped' windshield

The classic Boeing pointed nose configuration

The typical narrow-body Airbus airliner features a "rounded nose" with windshield straight across the bottom, and the rear with windshield window "notched"

Comparing the Airbus A320 and the Embraer ERJ-175

Shown below is a side-by-side comparison of a Airbus A320 (bottom) and an Embraer E-175 (top).

Both aircraft have several similarities in appearance, and there is only a 20 foot difference in overall length.

However, the longer A320 has two emergency exits over each wing while the E-175 has none.

Also, the A320 has the classic rounded Airbus nose, and the Embraer has a more pointed nose.

Chart showing the similar characteristics of the Airbus A320 and the Embraer E-175

A320 Family Assembly Plants

Final assembly of the A320 family takes place in Toulouse, France, and Hamburg, Germany, the first two A320 plants operated by Airbus.

A plant in Tianjin, China, has been assembling A320 aircraft for Chinese airlines since 2009.

The Airbus final assembly facility in Mobile, Alabama assembles the A320 as well as the A321 for aircraft destined for the North American market. Initial deliveries from the Mobile plant were A321s, beginning in April of 2016, with the first A320 rolling off the assembly line in August of 2017 for Spirit Airlines.

The first Airbus A320 aircraft produced at the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, Alabama, takes flight for the first time, on August 15, 2017 (photo courtesy of Airbus)

Airbus A320 Photographs

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320neo, Registration N350FR, "Miracle the Seagull", taking off from Tyler Pounds Regional Airport (TYR) in Texas, inaugurating service between Tyler and Denver International Airport (DIA) (7/2/2019)