10,000th A320

Just days after taking delivery of its very first Airbus A321 aircraft, JetBlue Airways placed a new order for 15 A321ceo (current engine option) and 20 A321neo (new engine option) aircraft on 29 October, tipping the A320 family order book over the 10,000 mark.

In addition, the airline has opted to upsize 19 A320s currently on backlog to A321s and will be the first airline in the world to take delivery of an aircraft from Airbus’ newest assembly facility, currently under construction in Alabama. 

The first member of the A320 family was launched in March 1984 and the prototype made its initial flight on 22 February, 1987.  The first examples were delivered to Air France and Ansett Australia in 1988. 

The family was soon extended to include the stretched A321, the shortened A319 and the even smaller A318 with all family members using the digital fly-by-wire flight control systems that Airbus pioneered.  There has been a continuous improvement process since introduction to service, and the type is now in service with 228 airlines from Adria Airways to Zest Airways.  A further 97 airframes are in use with private operators around the globe.
www.airbus.com

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