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Airbus A318

Type (Muster)
Short-range airliner (Kurzstrecken-Verkehrsflugzeug)

Country (Land)
France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom (Frankreich, Deutschland, England, Spanien)

Manufacturer (Hersteller)
Airbus Industrie
1, Rond Point Maurice Bellonte
F-31707 Blagnac
France
Phone: 0033-5/6193-3387
Fax: 0033-5/6193-4955
Internet: www.airbus.com

General (Allgemeine Angaben)
Crew (Besatzung): 2
Passengers (Passagiere):
    - 107 in a standard two-class first/economy cabin layout (with 38-inch seat pitch for eight passengers in first and 32-inch seat pitch for 99 passengers in economy class)
    - 117 for a standard single-class economy layout with 32-inch seat pitch
    -129 in a high-density configuration with 29/30 inch seat pitch
Cargo (Gepäck): 21,9 cu m in two lower holds (6,51 cu m forward, 14,70 cu m aft)

Power plant (Antrieb): 2 x Pratt & Whitney PW6122 or PW6124 turbofans. The CFM56-5B/P is offered as an alternative
Thrust (Schub): 102,2 kN – 106,65 kN (22 100 lbs – 23800 lbs) for the PW6000 or 21600 to 23300 lbs for the CFM56

Noise levels (estimated)
    - take-off: 79,7 EPNdB
    - sideline: 90,4 EPNdB
    - approach: 89,7 EPNdB

Dimensions (Abmessungen)
Length (Länge): 31,45 m
Height (Höhe): 12,55 m
Fuselage diameter (Rumpfdurchmesser): 3,96 m
Span (Spannweite): 34,10 m
Wing area (Flügelfläche): 122,6 sq m

Cabin width (Kabinenbreite): 3,70 m
Cabin length (Kabinenlänge): 21,38 m

Weights (Massen)
Operating empty weight (Leermasse): 39035 kg typical
Max. payload (Max. Nutzlast): 13340 kg or 15500 kg as an option
Fuel (Kraftstoff): 23860 litres
Max. zero-fuel weight (max. Masse ohne Kraftstoff): 53 or 54,5 tons
Max. ramp weight (max. Rollmasse): 59400 kg to 68,4 tons, depending on option
Max. take-off weight (Max. Startmasse): 59 tons or 61,5 tons or 63 tons or 64,5 tons or 66 tons or 68 tons as options
Max. landing weight (Max. Landemasse): 56 tons or 57,5 tons as an option

Performance (Flugleistungen)
Optimum cruise speed (optimale Reisegeschwindigkeit): Mach 0.78
Max. operating speed (max. Geschwindigkeit): Mach 0.82
Max. operating altitude (Dienstgipfelhöhe): 39000 ft
Take-off distance(Sartstrecke): 1350 m – 1400 m
Landing run (Landestrecke): 1340 m
Range (Reichweite):
   - 2780 km with 107 pax and baggage, at 69 tons take-off
   - 3705 km with 107 pax and baggage, at 61,5 tons take-off
   - 4350 km optional, at 63 tons take-off
   - 4900 km optional, at 64,5 tons take-off
   - 5278 km with 107 pax and baggage at 66 tons take-off
   - 6020 km with 107 pax and baggage at 68 tons take-off

Costs (Kosten)
The price was quoted as 38,7 to 44,8 million US-Dollars in spring 2001, after a hike across the whole line of around 5 per cent. This is around 7 million US-Dollars less than a A319.
Development costs are estimated at 300 to 350 million US-Dollars, to be funded by the consortium and its industrial partners.
Airbus claims direct maintenance costs of around 800 US-Dollars per trip, with the 737-600 being 18 per cent higher. Cash operating costs for a 500 mile sector are said to be 2970 US-Dollars at 2001 economic conditions.

Customers (Kunden)
In April 2003, there were 84 orders for the A318.
This is down from the 108 aircraft mentioned in August 2002 and the 114 aircraft claimed at the time of the first flight in January 2002. 136 were listed as of 30 November 2001. In March 2001, there were even 161 firm orders and 57 commitments for the A318, from 11 customers. The programme was launched with 109 orders/commitments already signed. Customers include:

Air China: 0. Originally 8 were ordered plus two options. In August 2002 this commitment was converted into the larger A319.
Air France: 15. Air France was declared a launch customer on 26 April 1999, following the signature of a purchase agreement for up to 25 A318s, including 15 firm orders and 10 options. First deliveries are scheduled for Spring 2003. Propulsion will be by CFM56.
America West: 15 ordered, plus 12 options. PW6000 engine. Deliveries were due in 2003/2004, but financial pressures after the September 11 terrorist attacks have forced a postponement to 2006-2007.
British Airways: 0. BA selected the A318 over the Boeing 717 in October 1999, ordering 12 aircraft and opting for12 more, with deliveries to begin in January 2003. Pratt & Whitney PW6000 engines were selected. In April 2002, BA confirmed that it had cancelled 6 orders and all the options. In December 2002, the remaining six were exchanged for the 195-seat A321 model.
CIT: 4.
EgyptAir: 0. A commitment with Airbus Industrie for three A318s was signed on April 26 1999, becoming the first customer in the Arab world to select the new aircraft. Another two orders followed on 7 March 2000. Deliveries of Egyptair's A318s, fitted with PW6000 engiens, were to begin in late-2002, but the airline switched to five A320s instead.
Frontier Airlines: 5. Ordered on 10 March 2000, plus five options, with the first three planned for 2003 delivery. Frontier abandoned the PW6000 engine in March 2002 in favour of the CFM56.
GATX/Flightlease: 0. Initially 12 were ordered, but have been striken from the list after the Swissair collapse in late 2001.
GECAS: 30 ordered plus five options
International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC): 15. ILFC announced a corporate decision to select the Airbus A318 as the 100-120 seat aircraft it will offer for lease to airlines around the world on 17 November 1998. ILFC had a Memorandum of Understanding for up to 30 A318s, but at some time changed 15 of them to A319s.
TAM: 0. Brazilian airline TAM – Linhas Aéreas announced its intention to acquire 20 Airbus A318s on 20 June 2001 at Le Bourget. A contract was not signed.
TWA: 0. TWA signed a letter of intent with Airbus in December 1998, covering 50 aircraft for delivery from 2003 to 2007. This was later listed by Airbus as 25 orders and 13 options, but even this was cancelled in the summer of 2001 as TWA entered Chapter 11 in January 2001 and was taken over by American Airlines in the spring of 2001.

Airbus estimates a market for 1900 airliners in the A318 size category over the next two decades, as airlines phase out older 737s and DC-9s.

Competition (Konkurrenz)
Boeing 737-600
Boeing 717-200

Remarks (Bemerkungen)
For the A318, a minimum-change approach from the A320 family has been taken with the product development objective to minimize cost. 95 per cent of part numbers are shared with other family members. The main features distinguishing the A318 from the A319 are:

Forward fuselage shortened by 0,79 m (one and a half frames), with a smaller lower cargo door
Rear fuselage shortened by 1,59 m (three frames)
Pratt & Whitney PW6000 engines instead of CFM56s offered exclusively at first. This is the launch application for the PW6000. The A318's PW6000 engines are optimized for low ownership and maintenance costs in a high-cycle environment.
Smaller cargo doors (1,22 m by only 1,26 m wide) on the lower holds, which prevents the carriage of containers
Extended fin to increase area. At first a new dorsal fairing was proposed.
Structural weight reductions through detailed redesign. For example, in the fuselage, laser beam welding is used for the first time in an airliner
The cockpit features LCD screens instead of CRTs

Airbus has targeted the A318 for the DC-9 replacement market and to counter the Boeing 717. It claims lower seat mile costs against the 717 and the 737-600 as well as the same buying cost per seat as th larger A319/A320.
Final assembly of the A318 is performed in Hamburg alongside the A319 from which it is derived.

History (Geschichte)
After talks to develop a new 100seater in collaboration with China hit numerous difficulties, Airbus began studies on a further derivative of its A319/A320/A321 family. This was at first internally dubbed A319M5, meaning that five frames would be removed from the fuselage. When "exhaustive studies” finally revealed that an all-new 100-seat jet was "not financially viable” and the AE31X programme was abandonned, the Airbus Industrie advisory board gave permission to offer the derivative aircraft under the designation A318. Noel Forgeard, Airbus Industrie CEO, officially revealed the new model at the Farnborough Air Show in early September 1998.
A definite go-ahead decision for the A318 was expected at the end of 1998, "subject to establishment of an adequate customer base in terms of price and volume”. That "industrial launch” did slip several times, until Airbus was finally able to sign up Air France as additional major customer.
Offical announcement of the formal launch of the A318 finally come on April 26, 1999. With 109 orders and commitments in the books, the base for the program exceeded the commercial requirements set by the Airbus Industrie Supervisory Board. Noël Forgeard, Managing Director of Airbus Industrie, stressed the significance of this launch. "With the A318, one of the last objectives regarding our product development strategy has been achieved," he said.
On 4 August 1999, Airbus signed a formal agreement with CFM International to adapt the CFM56 for the A318, after Air France had insisted on this powerplant to maintain commonality with its large A320 fleet. Aircraft with CFM engines will be available from the second half of 2003.
First metal for the A318 was cut at the end of October 2000. On 21. Mai 2001, the French Méaulte factory delivered the first 13-14 section of the aircraft to Saint-Nazaire.
Final assembly of the first A318 started on 9 August 2001 at the Hamburg facility, when the forward and aft fuselage sections were positioned in the first work station and joined during the so-called "join-up". By October 2001, the PW6000 engines had been fitted.
The A318 took to the skies for its maiden flight from the Finkenwerder airfield in Hamburg on January 15, 2002 at 10:11 hours. It touched down again after three hours 44 minutes at 13.55. The flight was captained by Bernd Schaefer, Chief Pilot, Hamburg, with Jacques Rosay, Airbus Chief Test Pilot, as first officer, Manfred Birnfeld and Hermann Schmoeckel as flight test engineers and Bernard Kamps as test flight engineer. The A318 took off at a weight of 57.5 tonnes (126,800 lbs). Around 7 tonnes (15,400 lbs) of flight test instrumentation, including 94 km/58 miles of electrical wiring, are used to record the thousands of parameters necessary for a full and thorough analysis of the aircraft's in-flight performance. The first flight was powered by PW6000 engines from Pratt & Whitney.
Airbus planed a 900 hour flight-test programme. Due to problems with the PW6000, this had to be changed substantially from earlier plans, which foresaw just 150 h with the CFM56 variant. Now around 300 h of the 750 h allocated to the PW6000 aircraft has been shifted to the CFM56.
The maiden flight of the first A318 with CFM International's CFM56-5 powerplant was brought forward many months. The aircraft took off from the Finkenwerder airfield at Airbus' Hamburg plant in Germany at 11h13 hours on 29 August 2002, touching down in Toulouse at 15h15 after a successful mission, lasting: 4 hours and 2 minutes. The flight was captained by Philippe Pellerin, Experimental Test Pilot with Bernd Schäfer, Chief Pilot, Hamburg as first officer, Fernando Alonso and Hermann Schmoeckel as Flight Test Engineers and Bernard Kamps as Test Flight Engineer. The crew tested the aircraft's handling using both direct and normal flight control laws between minimum speeds close to stall maximum operating speed of Mach 0.82. In addition the crew carried out several performance tests under different weight and speed conditions, which showed that the engines performed exactly as anticipated. This flight marked the halfway point of the flight test campaign for the A318.
Entry into service, once targeted for September 2002 and then said to be "late 2002” had by then slipped to the late summer of 2003, with the first CFM-powered aircraft to be handed over to Frontier Airlines based in Denver.
On 23 May 2003, the Airbus' A318 was certificated by the European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA), at a ceremony held in Hamburg, Germany. Approval covered the CFM International CFM56-5B powered version of the new 100-120 seat airliner.
The two aircraft involved had flown some 850 flight hours in around 350 flights with the two engines on offer – the Pratt & Whitney PW6000 and the CFM56-5B. They covered the performance of the aircraft in all phases of flight, including an evaluation of handling qualities, which are confirmed as being just like those of the other members of the A320 Family. Trials also included minimum unstick speeds and rejected take-offs, a visit to the hot and high airport at Mexico City, and tests of the aircraft's avionics and air-conditioning.
US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification was expected in June 2003.
Airbus delivered its first A318 to Frontier Airlines on 22 July 2003. The aircraft was the first of five A318s to be delivered to the Denver, Colorado (USA) based carrier by the end of 2004. The A318 delivered to Frontier was also the 2000th aircraft of the A320 Family to be handed over to a customer. Extending Frontier's unique series of North American wildlife livery on its aircraft, this first A318 ever delivered to an airline features a grizzly bear emblazoned on the tail fin.
Air France will get its first A318s in October A total of nine A318s should be delivered in 2003, seven in 2004 and 23 in 2005.
With all of the flight trials for the CFM56-5B powered version, and most of those needed for the PW6000, already complete, only about a hundred hours remain for the certification of the variant with the Pratt engine. These will take place in 2005, with the final, improved, version of the PW6000, leading to certification in November of that year.

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Last updated 23 July 2003

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