Airbus A320-200

If the A320-100 opened the way, the A320-200 was the aircraft that turned the programme into a commercial success. It is the most widespread version of the first-generation A320, the one Airbus renamed A320ceo (current engine option) when it launched the neo. It replaced the -100 almost as soon as that version entered service, and it did so with two changes: wingtip fences, derived from those developed for the A310-300 and intended to cut induced drag, and greater fuel capacity. With them it gained range and maximum take-off weight.

The first aircraft of the series, serial number 022, flew from Toulouse on 27 June 1988. Following certification on 8 November, the date the type certificate data sheet assigns to the CFM56-5A1-powered A320-211, Australia's Ansett received it on 18 November. The alternative engine followed quickly: Cyprus Airways had become, in November 1984, the first customer to order V2500-powered A320s, followed by Pan Am with 16 firm orders and 34 options in January 1985, and by Inex Adria. The first V2500-powered A320-200 flew on 28 July 1988, the A320-231 model was certified on 20 April 1989, and the first was delivered to Adria Airways in May that year. The V2500-A1 produced around 110 kN and was 4% more efficient than the CFM56. Among the orders of those years, Northwest Airlines stood out with 100 CFM56-powered A320s ordered in October 1986 and confirmed at Farnborough in 1990.

Under the A320-200 commercial name sit eight certified models, distinguished mainly by their engines. With CFM56: the A320-211 (CFM56-5A1), the A320-212 (CFM56-5A3, certified on 20 November 1990), the A320-214 (CFM56-5B4, 10 March 1995) and the A320-215 and A320-216 (CFM56-5B5/P and CFM56-5B6/P), certified by EASA in June 2006. With IAE: the A320-231 (V2500-A1), the A320-232 (V2527-A5, 28 September 1993) and the A320-233 (V2527E-A5). Thrust ratings range from about 98 to 120 kN, and with 150 passengers the typical range is about 6,100 kilometres.

Development of the A320-200 coincided with the evolution of the ETOPS rules for twin-engined aircraft flying far from diversion airports. Airbus pursued them to win airlines operating over the ocean or to islands: the A320-211 was granted 120-minute ETOPS on 17 September 1991, and in time every A320ceo reached 180 minutes.

Before the neo, Airbus kept refining the aircraft. In 2006 it started the A320 Enhanced programme, targeting a 4 to 5% efficiency gain through larger wingtip devices, aerodynamic refinements, weight savings and a new cabin. The engines improved too: the CFM56 Tech Insertion in 2007 and the V2500Select (One) in 2008 cut fuel burn by 1%. In 2007 a quieter cabin arrived, with more overhead bin volume.

The most visible change was the sharklets, the large curved wingtip devices launched at the November 2009 Dubai Airshow. They add about 200 kg but reduce fuel burn by 3.5% on flights over 2,800 kilometres, and they increase the span from 34.10 to 35.80 metres. EASA certified them on 30 November 2012 for the A320-214, -215 and -216, and on 21 December 2012 for the -232 and -233. The first sharklet-equipped A320 was delivered to Indonesia AirAsia on 21 December 2012, offering 450 kg more payload and 190 kilometres more range; since October 2013 they can also be retrofitted to aircraft already delivered.

Airbus planning documents list some twenty weight variants for the A320-200, with maximum take-off weights from 66,000 to 78,000 kg and a usual maximum landing weight of 64,500 kg. Its direct rival was the Boeing 737-400 and, later, the 737-800. A new A320 was worth about 30 million dollars in 1988 and about 40 million by the end of the 1990s; in 2018 its list price was 101.0 million. In early 2012 Airbus delivered the 5,000th A320 to Middle East Airlines, and by 30 September 2017 4,512 A320ceo had been delivered, with 220 still on order, before production finally gave way to the A320neo.