Airbus A320 Orders - Modern Airliners

Airbus A320 Orders and Deliveries

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A320 Launch CustomersOrders and Deliveries Table

The Airbus Industrie A320 jet airliner family of airplanes has been a spectacularly successful model for Airbus and continues to be so.  The airplane is particularly popular with today’s low-cost carriers who find the airplane economical to run and maintain.

Air New Zealand Airbus A320-232 at Wellington Airport_s
An Air New Zealand Airbus A320-232 taxis into the gate at Wellington Rongotai Airport (Middle Earth).

As we saw in the assembly page, the A320 is being manufactured in several parts of the world now to help keep up with demand.

Below is a table which gives an idea of how the numbers for different variants of the A320 are made up.  Please note that CEO stands for Current Engine Option which is the original engines that the A320 was designed with, whilst NEO stands for New Engine Option which is the new improved economy generation of jet engines.  This is discussed in more detail on our A320 Specifications page.

Which Airbus Industrie A320 jet airliners are being ordered?

Each of the variants in the A320 family was a response to customer demand.  Each airline has a different market to which they cater and this leads to different configurations of aeroplanes required to suit each of these niche markets.  Whether it be a high-density domestic city pair which needs a higher volume of seats, or a lower density city pair which needs the same type of aeroplane but a lower number of seats.  Sometimes carriers want a higher frequency of flights with slightly lower seat numbers, rather than a lower frequency of flights with a higher number of seats.  This is where the versatility of the A320 family comes into play, being able to offer the right tool for the right job.  See our Specs page to learn the differences between the A320 variants.

Each variant was launched as if it was a new aeroplane model and each variant had its launch customer.  Below are those launch customers and their acceptance dates of the new variants.

Airbus A320 Family Launch Customers
Airfrance.a320-200
Air France was the launch customer for the Airbus A320 taking delivery of their first aircraft on 26 March 1988. The aircraft entered commercial service on 18 April 1988
lufthansa_Airbus_A321
600Lufthansa and Alitalia were the first to order the A321, an A320 stretch. Lufthansa received their first aeroplane on 27 January 1994, whilst Alitalia received theirs on 22 March 1994.
Swissair_Airbus_A319_112;_HB-IPS@ZRH
Swissair was the launch customer for the shorter A319 variant. The first aeroplane was delivered on 25 April 1996 and entered service that same month.
Frontier_Airlines_Fawn_Airbus_A318-111
Frontier Airlines launched the second shrink of the A320 family, the A318. Delivery occurred on 22 July 2003 with commercial services starting before the end of that month.
On 25 January 2016, the A320neo entered service with Lufthansa, the type’s launch customer. Here we can see them proudly advertising that they are first to fly the A320neo.
Leased by by GECAS, the first Airbus A321neo was delivered to Virgin America in Hamburg. This aircraft entered service in May 2017.

So what of the A319neo? Originally Qatar Airways was to be the launch customer, but they decided to upgrade their order to the A320neo instead. As of April 2020, two A319neos have been delivered to private buyers in executive jet configurations.

Airbus A320 Orders and Deliveries to August 2020.

Breakdown by Variant. A318 A319ceo A319neo A320ceo A320neo A321ceo A321neo
Orders 80 1486 84 4770 3926 1791 3440
Deliveries 80 1480 2 4751 1044 1759 370
In Operation 63 1406 2 4366 1044 1719 370

Be sure to visit A320 Specs, A320 Interior, A320 History and A320 Assembly.

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