T
The programme was
launched on 2 March 1984.
At this time, Airbus had 96
orders 48 Air France was its
first customer with a "letter
of intent" for 25 A320s and
an option for 25 more at the 1981 Paris air
show.
In October 1983, British Caledonian placed
seven firm order, bringing total orders to
more than 80. Cyprus Airways became the
first to place order for V2500-powered
A320s in November 1984, followed by Pan
Am with 16 firm orders and 34 options in
January 1985, then Inex Adria.
A 320 parts are manufactured throughout Europe, like the horizontal
stabilizer in Spain
One of the most significant order was when Northwest Airlines placed an order for 100
A320s in October 1986, later confirmed at the 1990 Farnborough Airshow, powered by
CFM56 engines.
In presence of then French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac and the Prince and Princess of
Wales, the first A320 was rolled out of the final assembly line on 14 February 1987 and
made its maiden flight on 22 February in 3 hours and 23 minutes from Toulouse.
The flight test programme took 1,200 hours on 530 flights, European Joint Aviation
Authorities certification was delivered on 26 February 1988. The first A320 was delivered
to Air France on 28 March 1988.
On 26 June 1988, Air France Flight 296 crashed into trees at the end of runway at
Mulhouse-Habsheim Airport, three out of 130 passengers were killed.
In February 1990 another A320, Indian Airlines Flight 605, crash landed short of the
airport runway in Bangalore, the ensuing fire contributed to the casualty count of ninety-
two, out of 146 on board.
A irbus A320
May 2017
www.alliance-airways.net
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