Featured Map for 26 July 2017:
Rare Birds: Airbus A318

The Airbus A318 is the smallest member of the A320 family. The A318 competed directly with the Boeing 737-600, the smallest Next-Generation 737 and the subject of a Featured Map several months ago. Neither model sold well although the A318 did manage to rack up 81 sales, 12 more than the 737-600.

Launched by Frontier Airlines and Air France, the A318 entered service in July 2003 with Frontier as the initial operator. Frontier acquired 11 examples but has retired all of them. A total of 61 A318s were built for airlines; another 20 A318-112(CJ) Elite models were built as corporate jets.

Today's Featured Map shows where one can find the remaining A318s in airline service, anti-clockwise starting from eastern Europe:

• TAROM (dark blue) flies four A318s, primarily from their hub in Bucharest.
• Air France (red) flies 18 A318s from their Charles de Gaulle hub in Paris.
• British Airways (blue) flies a single A318 between London City Airport and New York, with westbound flights stopping at Shannon for fuel and to allow passengers and crew to pre-clear U.S. immigration and customs.
• Avianca (red) flies ten A318s from their hubs in Bogotá and Cali.
• Avianca Brazil (green) flies seven A318s between ten airports within Brazil. Avianca Brazil has the only A318s powered by Pratt & Whitney PW6000 engines, with another eight originally ordered by LAN Airlines currently in storage. The PW6000 was designed specifically for the A318 as a less-expensive alternative to the CFM56-5 but lost early orders when the initial version of the engine proved to consume more fuel than expected.

References and additional information:

• A318 Aircraft – Airbus
• CFM56 – CFM International
• PW6000 Engine – Pratt & Whitney
• Airbus A318 Production List – Planespotters.net
• Airlines:
  • TAROM
  • Air France
  • British Airways
  • Avianca
  • Avianca Brazil
  • Frontier Airlines
• Featured Map: A318: Across the Pond, or Parts (7 October 2010)
• Featured Map: Rare Birds: Boeing 737-600 (15 May 2017)