Airbus A310-200 Wins Type Certification

• EASA's data sheet records the GE CF6-80A3 A310-203 and the Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4D1 A310-221 certified on 11 March 1983, with the JT9D-7R4E1 A310-222 following on 22 September 1983^[1]
• Later A310s followed: the -204 on 23 April 1986, and the longer-range -300 family from December 1985 (A310-322) and March 1986 (A310-304)^[1]
• Wikipedia and Airways put the start of revenue service in April 1983 with Swissair, against the Boeing 767-200 that had entered service six months earlier^[2][3]
• FlightGlobal's 2007 history says the A310 'first flew in 1982 and began service with Lufthansa and Swissair a year later'^[5]
• The A310's two-crew glass cockpit was standard from the start and later adopted by the A300-600^[2]

Notable features

• A310-200 as certified in March 1983: GE CF6-80A3 (-203) or Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4D1 (-221); basic MTOW 132,000 kg, up to 144,000 kg in later weight variants; limits Mach 0.84 and 360 KIAS^[1]
• Fuel capacity 55,100 L usable (outer 7,490, inner 27,950, centre 19,660)^[1]
• Fuselage keeps the A300's eight-abreast cross-section but is 6.95 m shorter with a 219 m2 wing, down from 260 m2; typical 195 seats in two classes or 245 all-economy at launch^[2]
• Airbus's planning chart for the 132 t GE-powered A310-200 shows 237 passengers at about 2,600 nm (read from graph) with takeoff field roughly 6,500 ft at MTOW; heavier 144 t JT9D variants are listed at 3,500 nm with 237 passengers^[2][4]
• Two-person forward-facing glass cockpit as standard, so no flight engineer^[2]