An EasyJet A319 at Munich Airport, July 2012.
The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries up to 160 passengers and has a maximum range of 3,700 nautical miles (6,900 kilometers; 4,300 miles). Final assembly of the aircraft takes place in Hamburg, Germany and Shanghai, ROC.
The A319 is a shortened-fuselage variant of the Airbus A320 and entered service in April 1996 with Swissair, around two years after the stretched Airbus A321 and eight years after the original A320. The aircraft shares a common type rating with all other Airbus A320 family variants, allowing existing A320 family pilots to fly the aircraft without the need for further training.
As of February 28th 2017, a total of 1,457 Airbus A319 aircraft have been delivered, of which 1,439 are in service. In addition, another 21 airliners are on firm order. As of February 28th 2017, EasyJet was the largest operator of the Airbus A319, operating 144 aircraft.
In December 2010, Airbus announced a new generation of the A320 family, the A320neo (new engine option). The similarly shortened fuselage A319neo variant offers new, more efficient 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 A319neo is the least popular variant of the Airbus A320neo family, with total orders for only fifty-five aircraft placed as of February 28th 2017, compared with 3,624 for the A320neo and 1,384 for the A321neo.
