Ural Airlines (Ура́льские авиали́нии) is an airline based in
Yekaterinburg, Russia, operates scheduled and chartered domestic and international flights out of
Koltsovo International Airport. In
2012, the company transported
3.5 million passengers. During its history the company has won the
National Aviation Award "
Wings of
Russia" 14 times.
The airline was founded in 1943 as Sverdlovsk
State Air Enterprises, and later became part of Aeroflot, the
Soviet state airline, being in charge of
Yekaterinburg Airport.
Following the split-up of Aeroflot, Ural Airlines became a joint stock company incorporated under the laws of the
Russian Federation on
28 December 1993, and the airline business was separated from the airport.
Today, the company is owned by
Ural Wings (65.77%) and Ural
Transport Bank (14.67%) and has 1,390 employees.
The
Airbus A320 family consists of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The family includes the
A318,
A319,
A320 and
A321, as well as the
ACJ business jet. The A320s are also named
A320ceo (current engine option) after the introduction of the
A320neo.
Final assembly of the family in
Europe takes place in
Toulouse, France, and
Hamburg, Germany. Starting in 2009, a plant in
Tianjin, China, has also been producing aircraft for
Chinese airlines. In
April 2013, Airbus started construction of a new production facility for the A319, A320, and A321 variants in
Mobile, Alabama. The aircraft family can accommodate up to
220 passengers and has a range of 3,
100 to 12,
000 km (1,
700 to 6,
500 nmi), depending on model.
The first member of the A320 family—the A320—was launched in
March 1984, first flew on
22 February 1987, and was first delivered in
March 1988. The family was soon extended to include the A321 (first delivered
1994), the A319 (
1996), and the A318 (
2003). The A320 family pioneered the use of digital fly-by-wire flight control systems, as well as side-stick controls, in commercial aircraft. There has been a continuous improvement process since introduction.
In
December 2010, Airbus announced a new generation of the A320 family, the A320neo "
New Engine Option". The A320neo offers a choice of
CFM International LEAP-X or
Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engines, combined with airframe improvements and the addition of winglets, named Sharklets by Airbus. The aircraft will deliver fuel savings of up to 15%. The first A320neo will enter service with
Virgin America in 2016.
As of December 2011, a total of 1,196 A320neo family aircraft have been ordered by 21 airlines, making it the fastest ever selling commercial aircraft.
As of 31
March 2015, a total of 6,494 Airbus A320 family aircraft have been delivered, of which 6,231 are in service. In addition, another 5,088 airliners are on firm order. It ranked as the world's fastest-selling jet airliner family according to records from
2005 to
2007, and as the best-selling single-generation aircraft programme. The A320 family has proved popular with airlines including low-cost carriers such as EasyJet which purchased A319s, and A320s, to replace its
Boeing 737 fleet. The aircraft family competes directly with the Boeing 737 and has competed with the 717,
757, and the
McDonnell Douglas MD-80/
MD-90.
- published: 12 Feb 2016
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