The Airbus A310 was the second aircraft that Airbus put into service, taking flight on 3 April 1982. It first entered service with Swissair the following year.
A glass cockpit operated by two crew members, eliminating the need for a flight engineer, came as standard. There were 255 aircraft produced and a few remain in service today with airlines such as Air Transat and Mahan Air.
Airbus A310 Video
Following on from last week’s video about the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is another from the same people. Just under 7 minutes in length, it tells the story about the Airbus widebody.
Originally called the Airbus A300B10, it is an evolution of the original Airbus A300. With a shorter fuselage, it carried less passengers and the long range version flew further.
The cockpit was similar to the Airbus A300-600 which meant crews could easily switch between the two variants, saving money for airlines. It was also the first aircraft delivered to an airline behind the Iron Curtain, with East Germany’s Interflug taking delivery in 1988.
Conversion of the Airbus A310 also took place, with the Luftwaffe and Royal Canadian Air Force using them as refueling tankers. Canada calls it the CC-150 Polaris in their military.
Overall Thoughts
Flying on the Airbus A310 is very similar to any aircraft. I had the pleasure of flying this aircraft with Royal Jordanian many years ago, where their Crown Class service impressed me immensely.
Major operators included Lufthansa, Pan Am, Singapore Airlines, Middle East Airlines, KLM, Kuwait Airways and Air France. If you travelled during the 1980s and 1990s, chances are good that you got to fly on one.
Have you flown on the Airbus A310? What do you remember about it? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Perry Hoppe via Airliners.net
I used to fly the Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines A-310 to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and after start to fly with the Uzbek national carrier Uzbekistan Airways and its ancient ex-Ecuatoriana A-310, finally flown on the last built and delivered to UZB Airways on15/06/1998 and register: UK-31003.
Spanish Air Plus Comet had several on its fleet but for not to long…
There was not too bad since the length was too short compared to actual planes, so the walking distance over the crowded multitude was short and easier to pass, the other thing is that all types TK, LH and UZ were on three class configuration, so FIRST, BUSINESS and ECONOMY, the economy class was really short.
That is great that you got to fly them on more than one airline. It makes sense that with the shorter cabin, it would have a much smaller economy class, especially when having three classes on board. That would make for a nicer feeling economy class, because it would not feel so crowded for the passengers. Thanks for your comment, it was really interesting! 🙂
9 years ago (minus one day, actually), I was booked to fly AMS-LIS on TAP. While trying to check in online the day before, I was told that due to a pilot strike, online check in was not possible. Spent most of the day after assuring that my flight would actually operate. It did end up operating, but on an HiFly A310 instead og a TAP A321. I was nothing but super excited to cross it off on my list of airplanes I had flown and even on my birthday :).
I remember it seemed very short despite being a widebody.
I guess it’s a Happy Birthday from me then! 🙂 That’s pretty cool that you got an A310 instead of an A321. I would have been pretty excited about that too. It reminds me of the pilots strike in Australia – lots of foreign aircraft were leased in, so we saw things like Dan Air London Boeing 727s flying domestically. It was really very colourful! Thanks for the comment.
You’re welcome…and I flew the a310 with Pan Am. The shortcoming with the plane was its range wasn’t sufficient to always fly Europe-U.S.A into the strong winter winds across the North Atlantic without necessitating a fuel stop in Gander or elsewhere. That didn’t sit well with customers, so the already struggling carrier drove off a lot of higher fare business traffic.
I can completely understand that not sitting well with the business traffic – unscheduled fuel stops are not particularly great. I wonder why they used the aircraft there then if performance wasn’t great all year round. Actually, from memory, the Airbus deal with Pan Am was a very good deal if I recall correctly. I suppose that put it over the edge.
Flew the A310 a few times on Wardair and for a very short time on CP Air after it took over Wardair but soon dropped the plane from its fleet, selling at least one to the Canadian Armed Forces to be used as our prime minister’s plane when traveling long distances and with larger delegations than can be handled by the fleet of Challengers. However, the same plane gets converted back into a troop transport when not booked for VIP travel so the forward “premium” cabin is not as luxurious as may be found on AF1 or similar national leaders planes.
I haven’t heard the name Wardair in a very long time, so you’ve just reminded me that they used to exist. It’s good that the aircraft in the Canadian armed forces are also used as a troop transport and what not. Australia does the same, apparently the Airbus A330 tankers in the RAAF can also be used for VIPs and troops as well. Makes sense to have aircraft that are not restricted to one role. Thanks for the comment!
Actually, it carried FEWER passengers and the long range version flew FARTHER.
Thank you very much for your input! Much appreciated.
Thousands of passengers still fly safely on A310s every day even in 2018.
Just look at the fleet and daily operations of TS (Air Transat).
They have several A310s fully operational, and own most of the spare parts.
Yes, Air Transat are the only western airline still using the aircraft in passenger service, otherwise you need to go to Iran. The Air Transat ones are due to be replaced by Airbus A321neoLR aircraft from next year, so if you want to go on one, now’s the time. Thanks for the comment!