Airbus-321 aircraft: a brief history and overview

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Due to the relatively low cost of maintenance, maintenance and repair, the Airbus-321 aircraft, the photo of which is presented below, is very popular with the world's leading aviation companies. In addition, due to the elongated fuselage, the aircraft is capable of carrying a much larger number of passengers on its board compared to the previous modification. More details about it and will be discussed later.

A Brief History

Work on the project of the new liner started in 1989. The main task that was set for the designers at the development stage was to ensure proper competition for the American Boeing-757 aircraft. The novelty was based on the design of the 320th model. At the same time, the developers lengthened the Airbus-321 fuselage by seven meters. The cabin of the aircraft, as a result, has become much more spacious. In addition, the manufacturer's engineers equipped the model with more powerful power plants, which made it possible to increase the flight range. The changes also affected the wing, which becamewithstand much greater loads than its predecessor.

The debut version of the airliner received the designation "100" in the title. The test flight was made on March 11, 1993. Two months later, a modification equipped with more powerful engines took to the air. A year and a half later, the aircraft was certified. At the beginning of 1995, the aircraft entered the first customers, which were such air carriers as Alitalia (Italy) and Lufthansa (Germany). After that, work began on a new modification - Airbus-321-200. The novelty received additional fuel tanks, which made it possible to increase the maximum flight range from 4500 to 5550 kilometers. Its first flight was made in 1996.

General Description

In itself, this aircraft is a passenger medium-haul airliner, the production of which does not stop today. The assembly of the model, unlike other Airbus aircraft, is carried out in the German city of Hamburg, and not in French Toulouse. As of today, more than 700 copies of the aircraft have already been assembled. At the same time, about one thousand more units are expected to be delivered by various airlines around the world in the near future.

Typical Airbus-321 is designed to carry up to 220 people in one or two classes. If the required flight range is up to 5600 kilometers, the number of passengers is reduced to 170. The aircraft is equipped with six passenger doors and eight emergency exits, which are located on both sides of its fuselage.

CurrentlyAt present, the model is used by many companies in the world: both for budget and charter flights. This is not surprising, because the airliner is the most economical in terms of maintenance in its entire family. The cost of its cheapest version starts at $110.1 million.

Salon

In the standard configuration of the Airbus-321, the cabin layout of the airliner provides for 185 passenger seats. At the same time, 16 of them belong to the business class. This kind of configuration for charter flights can be changed at the request of the customer. In particular, the ship is easily equipped to carry 220 people, but in this case, all passengers will fly in economy class. There is no doubt that the best seats here are located in the first class. As for the layout of the cabin, it differs from airline to airline.

Key Features

The total length of the aircraft is 44.51 meters, while its wingspan is 34.1 meters. The crew consists of two people - the pilot and his assistant. The cruising speed of the Airbus-321 is 840 km/h. In terms of fuel consumption, the ship requires an average of 2900 liters of kerosene for every hour of flight. The airliner is equipped with a digital control system, as well as EFIS avionics (the same ones are used in the 320 modification). Similar to the predecessor are also the level of generated noise and the emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere. The maximum flight altitude is 11800 meters, andrange - 5950 kilometers.

The biggest accident

The largest air crash occurred with an Airbus-321 airliner in Pakistan on July 28, 2010. Then the ship with serial number 1218, released in 2010, made a domestic flight between the cities of Karachi and Islamabad. The plane crashed on approach at 9:45 local time. The main cause of the tragedy, which then claimed the lives of all 152 people on board, according to the results of the investigation, was called difficult meteorological conditions. It should be noted that at that time the ship had already flown more than 34 thousand hours, while making more than 13 thousand flights.

Last modified

In addition to the two main modifications mentioned earlier, there is another version of the Airbus-321 model. Feedback from representatives of many companies operating it and experts testified to the presence on the market of great demand for even more economical machines. In this regard, a modernized version of the model was developed, in the name of which the marking "NEO" appeared. Its customers were given the opportunity to choose between two new power plants.

Each of them is characterized by lower fuel consumption compared to standard versions, in connection with which the flight range of the liner has increased by almost a thousand kilometers. In addition, the wings of the novelty are made in the form of a shark fin, which contributes to better aerodynamic performance. The passenger capacity of the aircraft has grown to 235 people (when transported only in economy class). It is expected that the operation of the novelty will begin in 2016. To date, Airbus has received orders for more than 500 of these aircraft.