Airbus A310

A310-300 F-ODVG Royal Jordanian Cargo at Maastricht Aachen airport

Airbus A310

The Airbus A310 twin engine wide-bodied airliners have been built since 1981. The A310 has a shorter fuselage than the A300 aircraft but the same 5.64m fuselage diameter. The A310 is a 200 seated aircraft with low operating costs. The large fuselage diameter allows the aircraft to carry industry standard LD3 cargo containers side by side under floor.

A310 Airbus versions include the basic A310-200, the longer range A310-300 (introduced in 1985), a cargo version (over 100 have been converted, Federal Express converted 49 A310-200's to freighter.) and the MRTT multi-role tanker transport, a military tanker version which has been ordered by the German Air Force (first delivery was in December 2003). The Canadian Air Force is to modify two of its five A310’s to the MRTT configuration.

The Airbus A310-200F freighter aircraft is a conversion of the A310 wide-bodied airliner by the EADS company, Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW), based in Dresden, Germany. EFW has the capacity to carry out 14 aircraft conversions per year. EADS and EFW have also delivered the A310-300F conversion of the extended range A310-300 passenger aircraft.

The A310-200C convertible passenger/freighter first entered service with Dutch operator Martinair in 1984.

Developing nation:	Europe.
Manufacturer/designer:	EADS - Airbus Industries.
Production line:	Toulouse-Blagnac, France.

Type aircraft:	Medium to long range wide body airliner.
First Flight:	- A310-200, April 3, 1982. (F-WZLH). - A310-300, July 8, 1985. (F-WWCA).
First Delivery:	- A310-200, April 1983, Lufthansa. - A310-200C, November 1984, Martinair. - A310-300, December 1985, Wardair.
	Airbus A310-200
Cockpit crew:	Two pilots.
Passengers single class:	280.
Passengers two class:	- 20 business class. - 192 economy class.
Cabin length:	33,25 m.
Cabin diameter:	5,28 m.
Cargo volume:	- Maine deck 61,8 m³. - Under floor 17,3 m³. - Total load 79,9 m³.
LD3 Containers in belly:	14.
Standard 2.24m x 3.17m pallets:	- in belly 3, with 6 LD3 Containers. - main cargo deck of freighter 16.
Wing Span:	43,90 m.
Wing area:	219 m².
Wing sweep:	28 degrees.
Fuselage length:	46,66 m.
Fuselage diameter:	5,64 m.
Height:	15,80 m.
Wheelbase:	15,21 m.
Track:	9,60 m.
Engines:	- A310-203, Two General Electric CF6-80A3 rated 222 kN. - A310-204, Two General Electric CF6-80C2A2 rated 231 kN. - A310-221, Two Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4D1 rated 214 kN. - A310-222, Two Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4E1 rated 233 kN.
Weight:	- Empty: 80.142 Kg. - Fuel: 55.200 liters. - Max. payload: 33.550 Kg.
Max. take off weight:	141.974 Kg.
Max. landing weight:	117.934 Kg.
Cruise speed:	850 km/h.
Max. speed:	896 km/h.
Service ceiling:	10.668 m.
Max. range:	7.519 km.

	Airbus A310-300*
Engines:	- A310-304 Two General Electric CF6-80C2A2 rated 231 kN. - A310-304 Two General Electric CF6-80C2A8 rated 258 kN. - A310-322 Two Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4E1 rated 214 kN. - A310-324 Two Pratt & Whitney PW4152 rated 231 kN. - A310-325 Two Pratt & Whitney PW4156A rated 249 kN.
Weight:	- Empty: 80.600 Kg. - Fuel: 26.718 Kg. - Max. payload: 33.300 Kg.
Max. take off weight:	150.000 Kg.
Max. landing weight:	123.000 Kg.
Max. range:	7.982 km.

* Generally similar to the Airbus A310-200 except in the following particulars.

Airbus A310 Production:

Airbus A310 deliveries 255, on order 5, approximately 206 in service at October 2004.

Airbus A310 built of each type:

A310-203 - 47

A310-204 - 7

A310-221 - 11

A310-222 - 23

A310-304 - 89

A310-308 - 18

A310-322 - 6

A310-324 - 50

A310-325 - 7

6 Airbus A310 written-of by accidents:

July 31, 1992. HS-TID Airbus A310-304 Thai Airways International crashed 40 km North of Katmandu, Nepal. A flap fault occurred while the flight was on the approach, the Airbus flew in a mountain. 113 fatalities / 113 on board.
March 23, 1994. F-OGQS Airbus A310-304 Aeroflot Russian International Airlines after a demonstration for and with the children of the Captain, the Airbus A310 stalled and entered a spin. Two minutes and six seconds later the aircraft struck the ground near Mezhduretshensk Russia. 75 fatalities / 75 on board.
March 31,1995. YR-LCC Airbus A310-324 Tarom after take-off from Bucharest-Otopeni, Romania the A310 began a descent, and finally a steep dive and crashed in a field. 60 fatalities / 60 on board.
December 11, 1998. HS-TIA Airbus A310-204 Thai Airways International Weather in the Surat Thani area, Thailand was poor with limited visibility and heavy rainfall. The Airbus was on it's third landing attempt when it stalled and crashed about three to five km southwest of the airport in a rubber plantation. 101 fatalities / 146 on board.
January 30, 2000. 5Y-BEN Airbus A310-304 Kenya Airways 2 km south of Abidjan, Cote d' Ivoire, the A310 transitioned from climb to descent. And crashed about 1km offshore. 169 fatalities / 179 on board.
July 12, 2000. D-AHLD Airbus A310-304 Hapag-Lloyd because of gear problems, the crew decided to fly with the gear down. Approaching Vienna (Austria) it appeared that there was not enough fuel on board. At about 12nm short of the runway, at about 4000 feet altitude both engines quit. The aircraft landed in the grass some 500m from the runway 34 threshold. The left main gear broke off and the no. 1 engine and wing sustained substantial damage as the aircraft slid for 600m before coming to rest. 0 fatalities / 179 on board.

Airbus A310 Airline operators*:
48 - Federal Express.	2 - Jordan Aviation.
18 - Air India.	2 - Sibir Airlines.
12 - PIA-Pakistan International Airlines.	2 - Tarom.
9 - Air Transat.	2 - Turkish Airlines.
7 - Iran Air.	2 - Libyan Arab Airlines.
6 - Hapag-Lloyd.	2 - Mahan Air.
6 - TAP Air Portugal.	1 - Islandsflug.
6 - THY.	1 - Tunis Air.
5 - Aeroflot.	1 - Air Paradise International.
4 - Air Plus Comet.	1 - Aerolineas Argentinas.
4 - Bangladesh Biman.	1 - Qatar Airways.
4 - CSA Czech Airlines.	1 - Lufthansa.
4 - Yemenia.	1 - African Safari Airways.
3 - Kuwait Airways.	1 - Arabasco.
3 - China Eastern.	1 - Emirates.
3 - SATA.	1 - Kibris Turkish.
3 - Uzbekistan Airlines.	1 - MIAT Mongolian.
2 - Air Algeria.
2 - Eagle Aviation.

Airbus A310 Military operators*:
German Air Force.	3 - A310-304. 2 - A310-304MRT. 2 - A310-304MRTT.
Canadian Air Force.	5 - CC-150 Polaris.
France Air Force.	3 - A310-304.
Belgian Air Force.	2 - A310-222.
Spanish Air Force.	2 - A310-304 to become tanker.
Royal Thai Air Force	1 - A310-324.

*Summary October 2004.

Research by: Rob Vogelaar