Is the Airbus A320 family safe?

The A320 family has logged over 230 million flights since 1988 with an industry-standard hull-loss rate per million departures. Major fatal events are clustered around three causes: pilot error / spatial disorientation (AirAsia 8501), pilot suicide (Germanwings 9525), and runway excursions (TAM 3054). No fatal accident has been attributed to a design flaw in the airframe.

How many fatal A320 family accidents have there been?

Approximately 35 hull losses with fatalities across all A319/A320/A321 variants since 1988. The deadliest were TAM 3054 (199 fatalities, 2007), AirAsia 8501 (162, 2014), and Germanwings 9525 (150, 2015).

Which airline has the largest A320 family fleet?

American Airlines and IndiGo each operate over 300 A320-family aircraft. easyJet, Lufthansa, China Southern, and Delta also have fleets of 200+.

What's the difference between the A320 and A321?

The A321 is a stretched A320 — about 7 metres longer, carrying 30-60 more passengers depending on layout. The A321neo adds the new engine options; the A321LR and A321XLR add increasing amounts of fuel for transatlantic and ultra-long single-aisle routes.

How many seats does an A320 have?

Capacity ranges from 124 (A319 in dual-class) to 244 (A321neo in high-density). The standard A320 seats 150-180; the A321 seats 185-220 in typical layouts.

When was the A320 family introduced?

The A320 entered service with Air France in April 1988. The A321 followed in 1994, the A319 in 1996. The neo family entered service with the A320neo in 2016.

Airbus A320 family (A319/A320/A321) — flights, routes and airlines

Every city pair operated by the Airbus A320 family (A319/A320/A321) worldwide. Live schedule data, recent safety events, and operator details.

The Airbus A320 family (A319/A320/A321) is operated by 301 airlines across 19294 city pairs in our observed-flights dataset (last 14 days).

Top routes: AGP-AMS, AGP-LGW, AGP-ZRH, AJU-GRU, ALC-BHX.

Variants and specifications

Variant	First flight	Typical seats	Range (nm)	Status
A319	1995	124-156	3700	in service
A319neo	2017	120-156	3750	in service
A320	1987	150-180	3300	in service
A320neo	2014	150-194	3500	in service
A321	1993	185-220	3200	in service
A321neo	2016	180-244	4000	in service
A321LR	2018	180-220	4000	in service
A321XLR	2022	180-220	4700	in service

Notable accidents and incidents

2007-07-17 TAM 3054 TAM A320-233 199 fatalities

Overran São Paulo–Congonhas runway 35L in heavy rain with one thrust reverser deactivated; crashed into a TAM Express building.
2014-12-28 Indonesia AirAsia 8501 Indonesia AirAsia A320-216 162 fatalities

Crashed into the Java Sea after rudder travel limiter faults and pilot misresponse to upset; recovered from the seabed in early 2015.
2015-03-24 Germanwings 9525 Germanwings A320-211 150 fatalities

Deliberately crashed into the French Alps by the first officer after he locked the captain out of the cockpit.
2009-01-15 US Airways 1549 US Airways A320-214 no fatalities

Lost thrust to both engines after a bird strike on departure from LaGuardia; ditched in the Hudson River — all 155 occupants survived.

About the A320neo family

The A320neo ("new engine option") family launched in 2010 and entered service in 2016. It pairs the existing fuselages with either CFM LEAP-1A or Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turbofans, plus sharklet wingtips — together giving roughly 15-20% better fuel burn per seat than the ceo (current engine option) generation.

The A321XLR, which entered service in October 2024, extends single-aisle range to 4,700 nm by adding a permanent rear-centre fuel tank — long enough to fly New York to Rome or Tokyo to Singapore. The A321neo is now the best-selling single-aisle jet by 2024-2026 order intake, driven by long, thin-route economics that previously required wide-bodies.

Airbus A320 family (A319/A320/A321) — safety & facts

Safety record

No recorded occurrences in our database. See full safety record →

Key facts

Manufacturer: Airbus
Typical seats: 124-244 pax
Range: 8,700 km
First flight: 1987-02

Recent fatal hull loss: 2026-05-29 View full safety record →

Color reflects time since the last recorded fatal hull-loss involving this type, drawn from public datasets (NTSB, Aviation Safety Network, Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives, Wikidata). It is not a commercial safety rating and does not normalise for flights flown, hours, or fleet size — for those, see the manufacturer or IATA Safety Report.

Notable events

2015-10-31 — 224 fatalities. Source.
2015-10-31 — Metrojet — 224 fatalities. Source.
2007-07-17 — TAM Linhas Aéreas — 199 fatalities. Source.
2014-12-28 — 162 fatalities. Source.
2014-12-28 — Indonesia AirAsia — 162 fatalities. Source.

Recent airline activity

Observed 35401 active routes flown by 288 airlines in the last 30 days.

Operators: easyJet (820), American Airlines (809), EJU (720), Allegiant Air (712), IndiGo (663)

Top routes: LIS–VIE, LAS–ORD, SFO–LAX, LAX–SFO, TFS–MAN

Based on live ADS-B observations collected by FlightFinder, as of 2026-06-04.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Airbus A320 family safe?: The A320 family has logged over 230 million flights since 1988 with an industry-standard hull-loss rate per million departures. Major fatal events are clustered around three causes: pilot error / spatial disorientation (AirAsia 8501), pilot suicide (Germanwings 9525), and runway excursions (TAM 3054). No fatal accident has been attributed to a design flaw in the airframe.
How many fatal A320 family accidents have there been?: Approximately 35 hull losses with fatalities across all A319/A320/A321 variants since 1988. The deadliest were TAM 3054 (199 fatalities, 2007), AirAsia 8501 (162, 2014), and Germanwings 9525 (150, 2015).
Which airline has the largest A320 family fleet?: American Airlines and IndiGo each operate over 300 A320-family aircraft. easyJet, Lufthansa, China Southern, and Delta also have fleets of 200+.
What's the difference between the A320 and A321?: The A321 is a stretched A320 — about 7 metres longer, carrying 30-60 more passengers depending on layout. The A321neo adds the new engine options; the A321LR and A321XLR add increasing amounts of fuel for transatlantic and ultra-long single-aisle routes.
How many seats does an A320 have?: Capacity ranges from 124 (A319 in dual-class) to 244 (A321neo in high-density). The standard A320 seats 150-180; the A321 seats 185-220 in typical layouts.
When was the A320 family introduced?: The A320 entered service with Air France in April 1988. The A321 followed in 1994, the A319 in 1996. The neo family entered service with the A320neo in 2016.

Where the Airbus A320 family (A319/A320/A321) flies — and what it costs

Route	Median fare	Sample size
Istanbul → London	€153	900 quotes
Dublin → London	€75	850 quotes
London → Dublin	€92	843 quotes
London → Frankfurt	€116	777 quotes
London → Munich	€152	751 quotes
London → Istanbul	€204	738 quotes
Frankfurt → Istanbul	€178	704 quotes
London → Paris	€123	690 quotes
Paris → Madrid	€129	661 quotes
Frankfurt → London	€125	654 quotes

Top routes by sample size from the last ~30 days.

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