United flies nearly 100 Airbus A320s (Photo: Colin Brown / Flickr)
Pilots, planespotters and aviation buffs can quickly recognize nearly every aircraft type from the ground or in the air.
But it’s not so easy for the rest of us.
To help TravelSkills readers confidently recognize what they see overhead or out on the runway, we offer a series of posts dedicated to Planespotting 101. (See below for a list of our previous Planespotting posts)
The Airbus A320 family is near ubiquitous around the world, and increasingly so in the US. Airbus factories pump out a new A320 family aircraft every seven hours!
The largest of the pack, the A321, is rapidly replacing the aging Boeing 757 at many airlines. The A320 gives the workhorse Boeing 737 a run for its money. And the smaller A319 and A318s work for short haul markets, although British Airways operates a specially configured 32-seat, all business class A318 between London City Airport and New York-JFK.
How can you spot the differences among these planes? Well, first, you will want to know how to spot the difference between the A320 family and the similarly-sized Boeing 737, which we covered for you here: Planespotting 101: Airbus A320 vs Boeing 737. (Hint: Look at the tail and cockpit windows.)
Once you’ve learned to distinguish the A320 family, you should then know how to spot the differences among the four models.
The easiest way to do that? Look at the doors.
The Airbus A321 has four doors evenly spaced along the fuselage (Photo: Anna Zverena / Flickr)
A321: Four doors
The A321 is the largest member of the Airbus A320 family, and accommodates 185-220 passengers depending on configuration. Delta will get its first A321s next year.
The Airbus A320 has two distinctive emergency exit doors over the wing (Photo: Lasta29 / Flickr)
A320: Two over-wing emergency exits
The Airbus A320 is the mainstay of the family, and carries 150-180 passengers depending on configuration. Virgin America flies 43 Airbus A320s and 10 A319s. United flies nearly 100 A320s.
The Airbus A319 has only one emergency exit door over the wing (Photo: Andre Gembitzki / Flickr)
A319: One over-wing emergency exit
An exception to this one-door A319 is EasyJet, which had to retrofit its A319s with an extra emergency exit because it packs so many passengers on a plane.
The super stubby A318 has a single emergency exit, too. But it’s shorter than the A319 (Photo: Bernal Saborio / Flickr)
A318: short, stubby, super-cute
This little aircraft with only 100 seats is also known as the “baby bus” due to it’s size and cuteness factor.
How do YOU tell the difference between the Airbus A320 family? Leave your comments below.
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Here are our other popular planespotting posts!
Planespotting 101: Boeing 757, 767
Planespotting 101: Boeing 737 vs Airbus A320
Planespotting 101: MD-80/90 & Boeing 717
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There are some A319 with two overwing exits thought. They are most noteably in service with LCC like EZ 4U EW etc. which boost a Y156 Configuration
It Is BA (British Airways) Is Still Does For $2000
As a guy who started spotting planes in the early 60’s (Reno with only DC-6, 7, Electras and F-27’s), I appreciate you keeping us up to date on the newer planes.
I love the A320 but A321 has too small of windows. I get in a 73 after being in an A321 and the windows look HUGE!. UA has the best seating in the A320. In FC there is a good 3″ between the window/wall and the seat side. Feels very spacious.
Didn’t CO (before the UA merger) used to have an A318 all business class service between LCY and EWR? From what I remember, it usually flew non-stop eastbound However, there were times when the tailwind was weak and an unscheduled fuel stop had to be made. The westbound flight always required a stop in Ireland since more fuel than the aircraft could carry was needed to fight jet stream headwinds.
I can tell by the fuselage length which a/c it is.
One version (can’t remember which) when landing uses reverse thrust all the way to walking pace, while another version uses less reverse thrust and heavier wheel braking. Something about different brake fans? Some A320 pilot will know I’m sure…
Always wanted to fly the all-business BA LCY-JFK route. A clever “replacement” for Concorde where the door-to-door time (vs. schlepping to Heathrow) is probably similar. Wish there wasn’t a Shannon pit-stop though!