The Airbus A310
Country of origin Type
European consortium Medium to long range widebody airliner
Photos Schematics
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Photo © Charles Falk
More photos of Airbus A310
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Photo © TriplET
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History
The A310 first began life as the A300B10, one of a
number of projected developments and derivatives
of Airbus' original A300B airliner.
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While based on the larger A300, the A310
Photo © Nathan Zalcman - AirTeamImages
introduced a number of major changes. The
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fuselage was shortened by 13 frames compared to
the A300B, reducing seating to around 200 to 230
Seatmap
passengers and a new higher aspect ratio wing of
smaller span and area was developed. New and
smaller horizontal tail surfaces, fly-by-wire
outboard spoilers and a two crew EFIS flightdeck
were incorporated, while the engine pylons were
common to suit both engine options.
The first flight of the A310 occurred on April 3
1982, after the program was launched in July
1978. Service entry was with Lufthansa in April
1983. Early production A310s did not have the
small winglets that became a feature of later build
A310-200s and the A310-300. The A310-300 is a
longer range development of the base A310-200,
and has been in production since 1985. This
version can carry a further 7000kg (15,430lb) of
fuel in the tailplane.
The A310-200F freighter is available new build or
as a conversion of existing aircraft (13 A310s were
converted to freighters for Federal Express by
Powerplants Airbus partner Daimler Benz [now
DaimlerChrysler] Aerospace Airbus). The A310-
200C convertible passenger/freighter first entered
Initial powerplant choice of either two 213.5kN service with Dutch operator Martinair in 1984.
(48,000lb) Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4D1s or two
222.4kN (50,000lb) General Electric CF6-80A3 Copyright Airliners.net, some information Copyright Aerospace
turbofans. Current choices of 238kN (53,500lb) Publications
CF6-80C2A2s, 262.4kN (59,000lb) CF6-
80C2A8s, 231.2kN (52,000lb) PW-4152s, or
249.1kN (56,000lb) PW-4156s.
Performance
Max cruising speed 897km/h (484kt), long
range cruising speed 850km/h (459kt). Range
at typical airliner operating weight with 218
passengers and baggage and reserves 6800km
(3670nm) for A310-200, 7982km (4310nm) for
CF6 powered A310-300, 9580km (5170nm) for
high gross weight A310-300 with CF6s.
Weights
A310-200 with CF6-80C2A2s - Operating empty
80,142kg (176,683lb), max takeoff 142,000kg
(313,055lb). A310-300 with CF6-80C2A8s -
Operating empty 81,205kg (179,025lb), max
takeoff 150,000kg (330,695lb) standard, or
higher gross weight options through to
164,000kg (361,560lb).
Dimensions
Wing span 43.89m (144ft 0in), length 46.66m
(153ft 1in), height 15.80m (51ft 10in). Wing area
219.0m2 (2357.3sq ft).
Capacity
Flightcrew of two. Max passenger capacity at
nine abreast 280. Typical two class
arrangement for 20 passengers at six abreast
and 192 economy class passenger eight
abreast. Cargo capacity in fore and aft
underfloor compartments can hold 2.44 x 3.17m
(88 x 125in) pallets or a total of up to 14 LD3
containers.
Production
Total orders held for the A310 stood at 261 at
late 1998, of which more than 250 had been
delivered.
