Have you ever wondered why all Airbus aircraft start with the number 3? The aviation world recently celebrated the 50th birthday of Airbus, looking back on the company’s beginning with France and West Germany’s commitment to the Airbus A300 program. This momentous journey kicked off on May 29, 1969.
The custom of numbering Airbus aircraft started with the groundbreaking A300. Unlike Boeing’s steady use of the number 7 for its aircraft names, Airbus took a unique approach, since there was skepticism around their first passenger aircraft. The A300, notable for having two engines, went against the norm at the time, where wide-body aircraft typically had either four or three engines.
Naming it the A300 made sense – the aircraft could fit 300 passengers, and the ‘A’ stood for Airbus. The original Airbus A300B1 model boasted specs including:
- Seating for 300 passengers
- 2 General Electric (GE) CF6-50A high-bypass turbofan engines
- A maximum takeoff weight of 291,010 lbs
Yet Airbus only built 2 units of the A300B1. This decision came from the company thoroughly analyzing the market and realizing no airline would order a passenger jet for just 300 aircraft. So they tweaked the max passenger count to 250, but kept the A300 name for clarity.
As Airbus grew its lineup with models like the A310, it aimed to maintain a coherent naming approach. So the planes that followed were labeled the A310, A320, A330, A340, and A350. Interestingly, the A360 and A370 were intentionally skipped, jumping right to the A380.
Why skip those numbers? The gigantic size of the A380 could be one reason. Airbus keeps the option open to create aircraft between the A350 and A380 in size and passenger capacity. While Boeing has used up its 7xx names except for the 797, Airbus has flexibility with available A360, A370, and A390 options.
Additionally, Airbus embraced the A2xx format with the A220, formerly the Bombardier CSeries. The motive for starting with a 2 isn’t official, but some speculate it’s because the A220 is smaller than other Airbus aircraft. Another theory is that since Airbus didn’t originally design the CSeries, it diverges from the 3xx pattern.
So next time someone asks why Airbus aircraft all start with a 3, the answer is clear – it stems from the A300, made for 300 passengers. This naming stuck to maintain brand strength, following the A3xx format for every aircraft since.
