Airbus A318

The Airbus A318 is the smallest member of the Airbus A320 family, a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie. The A318 carries up to 132 passengers and has a maximum range of 3,100 nmi (5,700 km; 3,600 mi). Final assembly of the aircraft takes place in Toulouse, France.

The aircraft entered service in July 2003 with Frontier Airlines, and shares a common type rating with all other Airbus A320 family variants, allowing existing A320 family pilots to fly the aircraft without the need for further training. It is the largest commercial aircraft certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency for steep approach operations, allowing flights at airports such as London City.
Relative to other Airbus A320 family variants, the A318 has sold in only small numbers with total orders for only 83 aircraft placed at 28 February 2011.

Background

The first member of the A320 family was the A320 which was launched in March 1984 and first flew on 22 February 1987. The family was soon extended to include the A321 (first delivered 1994), the A319 (1996), and the A318 (2003). The A320 family pioneered the use of digital fly-by-wire flight control systems, as well as side stick controls, in commercial aircraft.

The A318 was born out of mid-1990 studies between Aviation Industries of China (AVIC), Singapore Technologies Aerospace, Alenia and Airbus on a 95- to 125-seat aircraft project. The programme was called the AE31X, and covered the 95-seat AE316 and 115- to 125-seat AE317. The former was to have an overall length of 31.3 metres (102 ft 8 in), while the AE317 would be longer by 3.2 metres (10 ft 6 in), at 34.5 metres (113 ft 2 in). 

The engines would be supplied from two BMW Rolls-Royce BR715s, CFM56-9s, or the Pratt & Whitney PW6000s; with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 53.3 tonnes (118,000 lb) for the smaller version and 58 tonnes (130,000 lb) for the AE317. The thrust requirement were 77.9–84.6 kilonewtons (17,500–19,000 lbf) and 84.6–91.2 kilonewtons (19,000–20,500 lbf), respectively. Range was settled at 5,200 kilometres (2,800 nmi) and 5,800 kilometres (3,100 nmi) for the high gross weight versions of both variants. Both would share a wingspan of 31.0 metres (101 ft 8 in) and a flight deck similar to that of the A320 family. Costing $2 billion to develop, aircraft production was to take place in China. 

Design phase

The aircraft was first named A319M5 in as early as March 1995, as an A319 derivative with fuselage shortening of 0.79 metres (2 ft 7 in) ahead of wing and 1.6 metres (5 ft 3 in) behind. The final proposal was for a 107-passenger two-class layout, and a range of 3,350 kilometres (1,810 nmi), or 6,850 kilometres (3,700 nmi) with upcoming Sharklets. The aircraft production took advantage of laser welding, eliminating the necessity for heavy rivets and bolts. Overall, the A318 is over six metres shorter and around 3 t (6,600 lb) lighter than the A320. To compensate for the reduced moment arm it has a larger vertical stabiliser, making it 75 centimetres (30 in) taller than the other A320 variants. Pilots who are trained on the other variants may fly the A318 with no further certification, since it features a common flight deck and the same type rating as its sister aircraft.

The A318 is available with a variety of different maximum take-off weights (MTOW) ranging from a 59 tonne, 2,750 km (1,500 nautical mile) base model to a 68 tonne, 6,000 km (3,240 nautical mile) version. The lower MTOW enables it to operate regional routes economically while sacrificing range and the higher MTOW allows it to complement other members of the A320 family on marginal routes. The lighter weight of the A318 gives it an operating range 10% greater than the A320, allowing it to serve some routes that the A320 would be unable to: London-New York, Perth–Auckland and Singapore–Tokyo, for instance. Its main use for airlines, however, is on short, low-density hops between medium-sized cities.

During the design process, the A318 encountered several problems. The first one was the decline in demand for new aircraft following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Another was the new Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines, which burned more fuel than expected; by the time CFMI had a more efficient engine ready for market, many A318 customers had already backed out, including Air China and British Airways. America West Airlines, which had selected the Pratt & Whitney engines, amended its A318 orders, opting instead for A319 or A320 aircraft. 

Trans World Airlines cancelled a significant order for fifty A318s after being acquired by American Airlines, which does not operate any A320 family aircraft (although neither did TWA when the order was originally placed). While Airbus was hoping to market the A318 as a regional jet alternative, laws in both the U.S. and Europe have kept it in the same class as larger aircraft for calculating charges such as landing fees, meaning regional operators have avoided it.

The aircraft is powered by two CFM56-5 or Pratt & Whitney PW6000 engines with thrust ratings of between 96 and 106 kilonewtons (21,600 and 23,800 lbf). Launch customers Frontier Airlines and Air France took deliveries in 2003, with Frontier receiving their models in July of that year. The list price of an A318 ranges from $56 to $62 million, and operating costs are between $2,500 and $3,000 for each flight hour.

Orders for the A318 have been relatively slow, but better than for its direct competitor the Boeing 737-600. At 31 January 2011, Airbus had received 83 orders for this model compared to 69 for the B737-600. The sales pace has been influenced by the strong sales of the Bombardier CRJ900 and Embraer E-Jets series. Notable A318 customers are Air France, 18; Frontier Airlines, 10 (+ 1 order); LAN Chile, 20 orders; and Mexicana, 10 orders.

Further developments

On 10 November 2005 Airbus announced the A318 Elite. The Airbus A318 Elite is aimed at the medium-range market for flights of up to 4,000 nm (7,400 km) range, with a choice of two cabin layouts seating up to 18 passengers, and will be powered by CFM engines. Comlux Aviation became the launch customer by ordering three A318 Elite aircraft.

In September 2010, Airbus confirmed that from 2013 the Airbus A318 would become available with Sharklets, wingtip devices which reduce lift-induced drag and improve efficiency through reduced fuel consumption. The optional devices, which will also be available on other Airbus A320 family models and are manufactured by Korea Aerospace Industries, will increase the range of the aircraft to 5,930 km (3,200 nm) – an increase of 185 km over a standard A318 with 107 seats in a two-class configuration.

Design

The Airbus A318 is a small, narrow-body (single-aisle) aircraft with a retractable tricycle landing gear and is powered by two wing pylon-mounted turbofan engines. It is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a conventional tail unit having a single vertical stabilizer and rudder. Two suppliers provide turbofan engines for the A318: CFM International with their CFM56 and Pratt & Whitney with the PW6000 engine.

Specifications

Airbus A318
	A318-100
Cockpit crew	Two
Seating capacity	132 (1-class, maximum) 117 (1-class, typical) 107 (2-class, typical)
Cargo capacity	21.21 m3 (749 cu ft)
Length	31.44 m (103 ft 2 in)
Wingspan	34.10 m (111 ft 11 in)
Wing area	122.6 m2 (1,320 sq ft)
Wing sweepback	25 degrees
Tail height	12.51 m (41 ft 1 in)
Cabin width	3.70 m (12 ft 2 in)
Fuselage width	3.95 m (13 ft 0 in)
Operating empty weight	39,500 kg (87,000 lb)
Maximum zero-fuel weight (MZFW)	54,500 kg (120,000 lb)
Maximum take-off weight (MTOW)	75.5 t (166,000 lb)
Cruising speed	Mach 0.78 (828 km/h/511 mph at 11,000 m/36,000 ft)
Maximum speed	Mach 0.82 (871 km/h/537 mph at 11,000 m/36,000 ft)
Maximum range, fully loaded	3,100 nmi (5,700 km; 3,600 mi)
Take off run at MTOW (sea level, ISA)	1,355 m (4,446 ft)
Maximum fuel capacity	24,210 L (5,330 imp gal; 6,400 US gal)
Service ceiling	12,000 m (39,000 ft)
Engines (×2)	Pratt & Whitney PW6000 series or CFM International CFM56-5 series
Thrust (×2)	96–106 kN (22,000–24,000 lbf)