iscover
Update – Airbus lndustrie A320 Stretch
0 comment
Airbus A320 Stretch
A little over a year after the first A320 entered commercial service, Airbus lndustrie have bitten the bullet and given a go-ahead on development of a stretched version of their hot selling, narrow body twinjet.
The A320 Stretch will no doubt do for Al what the 727-200 did for Boeing back in the late sixties when the Seattle giant finally gave into customer pressure (particularly from Ansett and the then TAA) to develop a larger, longer ranging version of their domestic trijet. As history notes, of the 1,832 727s produced, some 1,260 were of the stretched -200 model. This fact has obviously not gone unnoticed amongst the multi-lingual folk headquartered at Toulouse.
With over 500 firm sales for the standard fuselage A320 already logged, Airbus lndustrie is now in an excellent position to be able to offer a stretched version to the marketplace. The standard A320-200 typically seats 150 passengers in a mixed first/economy configuration. Ansett’s configuration is a little more generous and thus the aircraft in AN service is not a true 727-200 replacement in direct seat for seat replacement terms. On the other hand, charter or economy only operators are able to accommodate up to 162 passengers at a comfortable 32in pitch. The standard A320-200 can uplift a maximum 19 tonne payload some 1,800nm with reserves or conversely take 150 pax with baggage out to almost 3,000nm. The Stretch will thus trade a little range for the additional payload capability though will still be able to take up to 200 passengers some 2,400nm or 23 tonnes of max payload 1,400nm. Whichever way you look at it both versions in the local context are fully capable of flying the benchmark Sydney/Perth route against winter headwinds non stop with a maximum passenger load.
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
