Airbus A318 - WikiHQ

The Airbus A318, nicknamed the Baby Bus, is the smallest and least numerous variant airliner of the Airbus A320 family. The A318 carries 107 to 132 passengers and has a maximum range of . There have been no reports of accidents involving the type.

== Development ==

Background

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

The Airbus A318 project had its origins in the collaboration among Chinese, Singaporean and European manufacturers. In May 1997, during the visit of French President Jacques Chirac to China, Aviation Industries of China (AVIC), Singapore Technologies Aerospace (STAe), Airbus and Alenia signed a framework agreement that outlined the development of aircraft in the 100-seat range. The AE31X, as it was tentatively dubbed, besides being a global industrial programme would have significantly deepened Sino-European commercial ties. With development costs estimated to be upwards of $2 billion, AVIC would have a 46 percent stake in the project, STAe 15 percent, and Airbus Industrie Asia 39 percent, the latter of which comprised Airbus and Alenia.

The project never went past the exploratory phase. It comprised two clean-sheet designs – the AE316 and the AE317. The AE316 would have had a length of , and the AE317, . The standard versions of both variants had a maximum take-off weight of for the smaller version and for the AE317, and would have been powered by either BMW Rolls-Royce, CFM International, or Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines. As the project proceeded, there were increasing disagreements between the Chinese side and Airbus. China wanted a larger aircraft than originally envisioned. In addition, there were difficulties arising out of negotiations about technology transfer and production workshare, and a weak business case. in 1998 withdrew from the project out of the failure between AIA and AVIC to reach an agreement; Airbus and AVIC would cancel the project in July that year. The A318 is believed to have emerged from the AE31X project though an Airbus-only project, named the A319M5 in March 1998, began before the AE31X cancellation.

Design phase

The internal corporate designation, A319M5, was used as early as March 1998,

Orders for the A318 have been relatively slow, but slightly better than for its direct competitor the Boeing 737-600. By 30 September 2017, Airbus had received 80 orders for this model The sales pace has been influenced by the strong sales of the Bombardier CRJ900 and Embraer E-Jet family. The biggest A318 customers were governments, executive and private jets (20), Air France (18), Avianca Holdings (15), lessor GE Capital Aviation Services (12) and Frontier Airlines (9). The optional devices, which will also be available on other Airbus A320 family models and are manufactured by Korean Air Aerospace Division, will increase the range of the aircraft to – an increase of over a standard A318 with 107 seats in a two-class configuration.

Design

The Airbus A318 is a small commercial, narrow-body (single-aisle) aircraft with a retractable tricycle landing gear and is powered by two wing pylon-mounted turbofan engines. Two suppliers, namely CFM International with the CFM56-5B engine and Pratt & Whitney with the PW6000 engine, provide turbofan engines for the A318. It is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a conventional tail unit having a single vertical stabilizer and rudder.

Overall, the A318 is over six metres shorter and around lighter than the A320. To compensate for the reduced moment arm, it has a larger vertical stabiliser. While initial concepts depicted the aircraft with a Boeing 737 style dorsal fin extension, the final design incorporated a fin tip extension, making it 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 also referred to as the A318-100.

The A318 is available with a variety of different maximum take-off weights (MTOW) ranging from a , base model to a , version. When equipped with CFM56-5B8/P engines, the A318 is available with a MTOW. When equipped with CFM56-5B9/P engines, the A318 is available with a MTOW. 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.

Steep approach capability

thumb|[[British Airways Airbus A318 at London City Airport]]

thumb|right|Two British Airways [[Boeing 747-400s (left) and one Airbus A318 (right) at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York]]

In March 2006, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certified a modified control software enhancement to the Airbus A318 designed to allow the aircraft to perform steep approaches. The aircraft is the largest commercial aircraft certified by EASA for steep approach operations.

A test flight was conducted in May 2006 to prove the aircraft's steep approach and short runway performance by landing at London City Airport, where such steep approaches are required. The test flight also confirmed the aircraft's compatibility with the limited maneuvering and parking space at that airport. Airbus delivered the first A318 with steep approach capability to British Airways, which began operating the route the following month as its Club World London City service, eventually having two such aircraft capable of flights between London City Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. On the westbound leg from London, a stopover is necessary for refueling, which occurs at Shannon Airport, Ireland because weight restrictions are necessary in order to take off within the existing short runway length of London City Airport. On the eastbound leg from New York this limitation is not present and the aircraft can take all the fuel needed for the transatlantic route to London. As of November 2017, only one aircraft was serving the route, operated in a 32-seat all-business-class configuration. The second aircraft was retired on 31 July 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic which deemed such type uneconomical.

Operational history

thumb|[[Frontier Airlines was the first A318 operator.]]

Although final assembly of A320 family aircraft takes place in Toulouse, France; Hamburg, Germany; Tianjin, China; and Mobile, Alabama, USA, final assembly of the Airbus A318 was in Hamburg, Germany. The maiden flight of the Airbus A318 took place from Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport on 15 January 2002. The first customer delivery was on 22 July 2003 to Frontier Airlines.

As of 30 September 2017, 67 A318s remained in service with five airlines, in addition to governments, executive and private jets and undisclosed operators. Air France is the only airline operating the A318.

Operators

, Airbus A318 operators are:

! Cockpit crew

| Two

! Exit limit

| 136

! 1-class max. seating

| 117 at pitch

! 2-class, typical

! Tail height

! Cabin width

! Fuselage width

! Operating empty weight

! Maximum speed

! Range (typical payload)

! ACJ range

! Takeoff (MTOW, SL, ISA)