The Airbus family began with the A320 in March 1984 with deliveries to commercial carriers in 1988. The A321 was first delivered in 1994, the A319 in 1996 and the A318 in 2003. Modified versions of the A320 would give birth to the A330, A340, A380 and the A350 still in final design stages. Through May 2011, Airbus has delivered 4,696 units of the A320 family. Of the 4,696 units delivered to carriers, 4,607 are in service worldwide, with firm orders on the books for an additional 2,331 airliners. In an informational release in March 2011, Airbus claims it is the fastest selling commercial passenger aircraft in the world. Boeing Aircraft is a direct competitor of Airbus.
All models of the Airbus have abandoned the traditional control wheel, or yoke, for a side stick controller. This is a control device situated at the pilot's left and the co-pilot's right. The side stick controls the ailerons for turning the aircraft and the elevator for controlling climbing or descending. Standard pedals control the rudder. This innovation, along with digital fly-by-wire flight control systems, was pioneered by Airbus. Fly-by-wire eliminates traditional cables from the cockpit controls to the flight control surfaces and replaces them with electronically controlled sensors. Fly-by-wire is made very reliable and failure-free through multiple backups for each device.
The Airbus A300 was launched in May 1969. Airbus Industrie was created in December 1970. Spain became a member-partner of Airbus Industrie followed by British Aerospace in 1979. The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, (EADS), was created in July 2000 with Airbus owning 80 percent of the company and BAE Systems of Great Britain owning 20 percent. In August 2001, Airbus became an integrated company as Airbus SAS.
The Airbus model A319 is typical of the A320 family. The passenger configuration provides single-aisle seating for 124 passengers in two classes. The aircraft is 33.84 meters long, with a passenger cabin of 23.78 meters. The cabin is 3.70 meters wide. Wing span is 34.10 meters.
Sharklets are up-turned wingtips. They improve aerodynamic efficiency of the aircraft and yield multiple benefits to aircraft operators in terms of fuel savings, reduced emissions and improved aircraft performance. Sharklets are offered as an option to aircraft purchasers.
