Airbus’ first twin-engine widebody aircraft, the A300, and its follow-up, the Airbus A310, played a crucial role in establishing Airbus as a formidable competitor to Boeing. 

In 1977, the Airbus A300B4 became the first “ETOPS compliant” aircraft – its high performance and safety standards qualified it for Extended Twin Engine Operations over water (ETOPS), providing operators with more versatility in routing.

 The Airbus A310 came about from demand for a smaller capacity aircraft but also brought some innovative changes that fed back to the Airbus A300. It was improved with the A300-600 variant, launched in 1983. This utilized higher power engines, a re-designed wing, and a slightly longer fuselage. It also reduced the cockpit crew from three to two, another first for the Airbus A310 and A300. The Airbus A300-600 kept the same capacity but increased the range to 7,500 kilometers.

The Airbus A310-300 was the first Airbus aircraft with an all-composite fin on primary structures, as well as the highly-effective addition of drag-reducing wing-tip devices which improved fuel efficiency.

The Airbus A300 and the A310 were eventually replaced by the Airbus A330/A340 program. 

Systems

Flight Patterns

Instructor’s Corner