The Airbus A318, also known as the “Baby Bus,” is the smallest aircraft in the Airbus A320 family. It was also the least numerous variant in the family, with 81 orders placed between 1998 and 2013. Currently, only one commercial airline operates the Airbus A318; it is primarily used by governments or private aviation companies.
A new aircraft
Following the success of the A320, A321, and A319—which entered service in 1987, 1994, and 1996, respectively—the origins of the Airbus A318 date back to 1997, during a visit to China by then-French President Jacques Chirac, resulting in, among other things, the signing of a framework agreement that outlined plans to develop an aircraft for the 100-seat market. Initially, the project was named AE31X, but it was abandoned shortly thereafter due to disagreements between the parties.
However, the next year, at the 1998 Farnborough Air Show, Airbus announced plans to produce an aircraft for the 100- to 130-seat market, formally designated the A319M3. This was not the official launch of the project, but rather the legal authorization for Airbus to offer this design to airlines and begin negotiating contractual agreements.
The Airbus A318
After the first orders and Letters of Intent (LOI) —including 50 aircraft for Trans World Airlines—Airbus officially announced the launch of the project on April 26th, 1999, naming it the Airbus A318. The shortened version of the Airbus A319 has a maximum capacity of up to 132 seats in a single-class configuration and a maximum range of 5,700 kilometers in its longest-range version.
On January 15th, 2002, the Airbus A318 made its maiden flight, taking off from Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport. Frontier Airlines was the first customer, receiving its first Airbus A318-111 on July 21st, 2003, which was registered as N801FR. The U.S. airline added 10 more A318s to its fleet between August 2003 and June 2007.
Frontier Airlines was the first and only US airline to have the Airbus A318 in its fleet; Avianca, LAN, Mexicana de Aviación, TAROM, British Airways, and Titan Airways were the other historical commercial operators. Fast forward to the present, beyond VIP configurations and serving in some air forces, Air France is the only commercial operator of the Airbus A318 worldwide, with a total of four Airbus A318-111s in its fleet.
AVIANCA (2007 – 2019)
The South American airline had 25 Airbus A318-100s in its fleet for nearly 10 years, including 15 at its Brazilian subsidiary and the remaining 10 in Colombia, its main hub.
Its first Airbus A318, registered as N590EL, was added to the fleet in November 2010, with the next 24 arriving before December 2013. Avianca Brasil was forced to cease operations in May 2019 due to a major economic crisis, grounding its A318s shortly before the shutdown; the Colombian A318s continued in service until the end of 2019.
BRITISH AIRWAYS (2012 – 2020)
The British carrier took delivery of its first—and only—two Airbus A318s in June 2012; these aircraft were configured with all-business-class seating, as they were scheduled for a single route: the iconic London City–New York via Shannon.
In late March 2017, British Airways retired the Airbus A318-112 with registration number G-EUNB, retaining the aircraft registered as G-EUNA until March 2020. Following the retirement of the last A318, the airline suspended its flights between London City and New York, continuing to operate flights to and from London Heathrow with wide-body aircraft.
FRONTIER (2003 – 2011)
Despite being the aircraft’s launch customer worldwide, Frontier began phasing out its Airbus A318s in 2009 due to high fuel costs and poor operational economics. Following their retirement from service with the U.S. airline, all of them were scrapped at various airports around the world.
Its last four Airbus A318-111s—registered as N808FR, N809FR, N810FR, and N812FR—were in service for about two or three years, from 2007 to approximately 2009/2010.
LAN (2007 – 2013)
South America’s leading airline introduced its first Airbus A318 in May 2007, brand-new from the factory. This was LAN’s third aircraft in the Airbus A320 family, joining its Airbus A320-200 and Airbus A319-100, which have been part of the fleet since 2000 and 2004, respectively.
Between February 2011 and September 2013, its 15 Airbus A318-121s were withdrawn from its fleet and soon were incorporated by Avianca Brasil, with most of them remaining in service with the Brazilian airline until 2019.
MEXICANA (2004 – 2010)
In November 2004, Mexicana de Aviación acquired its first Airbus A318-111, which arrived brand-new from the factory in Hamburg. Its next nine A318s were added to the fleet over the following year, and all of them remained in service until 2010—specifically, until August 28th of that year, when the airline ceased operations.
Five of them were incorporated directly by Avianca, while the other five were added by the lessor GECAS and soon began operating for the Colombian airline as well.
TAROM (2006 – 2024)
Transporturile Aeriene Române, also known as TAROM, was one of the world’s leading operators of the Airbus A318, as it was part of its fleet for 18 consecutive years. The first aircraft, registered as YR-ASA, landed in Bucharest in November 2006, being the last one to be retired, in November 2024. YR-ASB, YR-ASC, and YR-ASD were added to the fleet between December 2006 and November 2007 and were taken out of service between 2022 and 2024.
The four Airbus A318s have already been scrapped—two in Castellón (YR-ASA and YR-ASD) and the other two in Bucharest (YR-ASB and YR-ASC).
Titan Airways (2017 – 2021)
The British airline, which operates charter flights with VIP aircraft, added the former British Airways Airbus A318-112 with registration number G-EUNB to its fleet in July 2017. It maintained the same seating configuration (32 seats in Business Class) and operated for them until March 2021.
Its last flight for Titan Airways was on March 11th, 2021; the following month, it flew to St. Athan (DGX/EGSY), where it was scrapped.
AIR FRANCE
On October 9th, 2003, Air France added its first Airbus A318-111, which carried the French registration F-GUGA, making it the first operator of the aircraft in Europe. In 2003, it added four more to its fleet; in 2004, four; in 2005, two; in 2006, five; and in 2007, the final two. Air France’s order included 15 firm Airbus A318-100s along with 10 options, valued at $150 million. The order was placed in August 1999.
In August 2021, the airline began the process of phasing out its Airbus A318s, which is expected to be completed later this year. Most of the routes operated with Airbus A318s will be replaced by Airbus A220-300s, aircraft that offer much better fuel efficiency and lower operating costs per seat.
Air France added its first Airbus A220-300 in September 2021, and according to our database, its fleet now exceeds 58 of these aircraft. They are configured for 148 passengers in a single-class layout, 17 more seats than its Airbus A318s.
As for its operational A318s, they bear the French registration numbers F-GUGM, F-FUGN, F-GUGO, and F-GUGP. All of them are, on average, 20 years old and have their base at Charles de Gaulle International Airport in the French capital.
Air France routes with Airbus A318
Flights scheduled for the next week (August 4th to August 10th)
| Route | Flight | Flight(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Paris – Amsterdam – Paris | AF1340/1341 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Barcelona – Paris | AF1348/1349 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Bologna – Paris | AF1228/1229 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Bordeaux – Paris | AF7434/7435 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Bordeaux – Paris | AF7442/7443 | 2 weekly |
| Paris – Figari – Paris | AF7584/7585 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Figari – Paris | AF7722/7723 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Florence – Paris | AF1466/1467 | 4 weekly |
| Paris – Hamburg – Paris | AF1510/1511 | 2 weekly |
| Paris – Hamburg – Paris | AF1710/1711 | 2 weekly |
| Paris – Lisbon – Paris | AF1024/1025 | 3 weekly |
| Paris – Lisbon – Paris | AF1124/1125 | 3 weekly |
| Paris – Lisbon – Paris | AF1194/1195 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Madrid – Paris | AF1300/1301 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Málaga – Paris | AF1748/1749 | 2 weekly |
| Paris – Málaga – Paris | AF1758/1759 | 2 weekly |
| Paris – Marseille – Paris | AF7344/7345 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Marseille – Paris | AF7346/7347 | 4 weekly |
| Paris – Marseille – Paris | AF7348/7349 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Milan Linate – Paris | AF1012/1013 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Milan Malpensa – Paris | AF1130/1131 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Montpellier – Paris | AF7460/7461 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Montpellier – Paris | AF7464/7465 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Munich – Paris | AF1422/1423 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Munich – Paris | AF1822/1823 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Nice – Paris | AF7302/7303 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Nice – Paris | AF7304/7305 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Nice – Paris | AF7312/7313 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Nice – Paris | AF7314/7315 | 2 weekly |
| Paris – Nice – Paris | AF7316/7317 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Nice – Paris | AF7318/7319 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Porto – Paris | AF1516/1517 | 2 weekly |
| Paris – Porto – Paris | AF1528/1529 | 2 weekly |
| Paris – Rome – Paris | AF1104/1105 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Rome – Paris | AF1204/1205 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Rome – Paris | AF1304/1305 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Rome – Paris | AF1504/1505 | 3 weekly |
| Paris – Rome – Paris | AF1604/1605 | 3 weekly |
| Paris – Toulouse – Paris | AF7402/7403 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Toulouse – Paris | AF7406/7407 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Toulouse – Paris | AF7412/7413 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Toulouse – Paris | AF7418/7419 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Venice – Paris | AF1126/1127 | 1 weekly |
| Paris – Venice – Paris | AF1426/1427 | 2 weekly |
Airbus stopped production of the Airbus A318 in 2013 due to low sales, high costs despite its size, and the introduction of the Bombardier CSeries, which it later acquired. In October 2017, Airbus bought the Bombardier CSeries, which included the CS-100 and CS-300 aircraft, both of which had a similar capacity to the Airbus A318, but were more operationally efficient.
The rebranding took place in July 2018, marking the first time the aircraft bore the Airbus name. From then on, the CS-100 was rebranded as the Airbus A220-100, and the CS-300 as the Airbus A220-300. More than 500 Airbus A220s are currently in service, and all of them can be tracked on Flightradar24.
Cover photo: © Pablo Romero – JetPhotos (Málaga, Spain)
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