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FlightCost › Aircraft types › A320

Airbus A320 — specifications and route economics

Airbus A320 (A320) — up to 180 seats, MTOW 78.0 t, CFM56-5B4. With FlightCost you can calculate any route on this type for free: fuel, airport and air navigation charges, crew, maintenance, leasing and the break-even load factor — with a source for every number.

Calculate a route on the A320 →

Drawing

Top view at the same scale as its class neighbours.

10 m
Airbus A320
Yakovlev MC-21-310 (PD-14 engines)
Boeing 737 MAX 8

Specifications

ParameterValueSource
Seats, typical layout170OpenAP
Seats, maximum180OpenAP
Maximum take-off weight (MTOW), t78.0OpenAP
Maximum landing weight, t66.0OpenAP
Operating empty weight (OEW), t42.6OpenAP
Fuel capacity, t24.2OpenAP
Cruise Mach0.78OpenAP
Cruise altitude, m11,000OpenAP
EngineCFM56-5B4OpenAP
Number of engines2OpenAP
Length, m37.6OpenAP
Wingspan, m35.8OpenAP
Fuselage width, m3.95OpenAP
ICAO aerodrome code letterCOpenAP

Economics on Frankfurt — Barcelona

1,093 km along the flight path, 2.1 h block, 80% load factor — 144 of 180 seats (certified maximum), July. Calculated by the FlightCost engine; ownership, maintenance and crew rates are defaults: 31% of the total rests on assumptions.

20,166flight, EUR
112per seat, EUR
10.3CASK, euro cents per seat-km
9,504per block hour, EUR
140break-even fare at 80%, EUR
ItemEURShareOrigin
Fuel6,13630%calculation
Airport charges4,81124%calculation
Maintenance1,93410%calculation
Crew1,7459%assumption
Aircraft ownership1,4147%assumption
Distribution and sales1,4127%assumption
En-route charges1,2306%calculation
Ground handling1,2176%assumption
Terminal charge2671%calculation
Open this calculation and change the inputs →

Types of this class on the same route

Same route, load factor and assumptions — only the aircraft type differs.

TypeSeats, maxflight, EURper seat, EURCASK, ¢
Boeing 737 MAX 1023021,175928.4
Boeing 737 MAX 922021,290978.9
Boeing 737 MAX 821020,404978.9
Boeing 737-90021521,219999.0
Boeing 737-40018819,0621019.3
Airbus A319neo16016,3941029.4
Airbus A321neo24425,0811039.4
Airbus A320neo19420,0121039.4
Boeing 737-80018920,1211069.7
Boeing 737 MAX 717218,3281079.8
Airbus A32122023,5181079.8
Airbus A220-30016017,1421079.8
Embraer E195-E2 (ERJ 190-400)14615,7021089.8
Boeing 757-20023926,35211010.1
Airbus A32018020,16611210.3
Boeing 737-70014917,00511410.4
Airbus A220-10013515,46211510.5
Tupolev Tu-214 (PS-90A engines)21024,19711510.5
Airbus A31915618,19211710.7
Airbus A31813616,36812011.0
Embraer E195 (LR)12415,26612311.3
Embraer E190-E2 (ERJ 190-300)11414,18212411.4
Embraer E190 (LR)11414,89013112.0

Lease rate and maintenance cost: estimates for ownership and upkeep

If you do not enter your own rates, the calculator uses estimates from weight and seat count. These are parametric, not operator data: each one can be replaced in the calculation.

Lease, EUR per month200,000
Utilisation, flight hours per month300
Ownership per flight hour (lease ÷ hours), EUR667
Maintenance, EUR per flight hour519
Maintenance, EUR per cycle833
Crew, EUR per flight hour676
Crew, EUR per cycle251

Maintenance by year — US carriers' reports (Form 41)

Maintenance cost per block hour as reported by US carriers flying this type: direct (labour, materials, outside services) and full — with the maintenance department's overheads. Dollars of each year, not restated. 2020 stands above its neighbours: flying dropped, the fixed part of the cost stayed.

directwith overheads · USD per block hour
5001,0001995200020052010201520202025

2025: direct USD 954, with overheads USD 1,190 per block hour, 8 carriers

Source: BTS, Form 41 Schedule P-5.2; analysis in the “Maintenance” research. →

Price and lease rate from publications

Aircraft list prices, transaction prices and market appraisals are shown separately from monthly lease rates. Each observation includes a date and a source link.

Aircraft price (list)Aircraft price (market appraisal)Lease per month

USD m

501002018201920202021

USD k per month

100200201820192020202120222023202420252026

— — calculator default (aircraft about 12 years old), in dollars of each year. The line is the lease the calculator uses without your own rates: EUR 200,000 a month as of October 2026 at 1.16 USD/EUR, restated in dollars of earlier years by the US CPI-U price index. It is an estimate for an aircraft about 12 years old; points of another age are not directly comparable.

Market in 2024 by observations — USD 177k a month; the default in 2024 dollars — 220k (+24 %).

The lease market is recovering after 2020: AerCap's fleet yield (lease rents ÷ average lease assets) was 11.4 % in 2019, bottomed at 9.6 % in 2021, 10.8 % in 2025 — not yet back to 2019.

In 2026 dollars: the default is 232k, observations of 2018–2019 for the same age 242k. If the market returns to its pre-COVID level, the default will be close to it.

MonthKindValueAgeSource
2024-01Lease per monthUSD 177,00010aeroTELEGRAPH (данные OAG)
2023-01Lease per monthUSD 155,00010aeroTELEGRAPH (данные OAG)
2020-10Lease per monthUSD 144 k10Aviation Strategy (данные AVAC)
2020-10Aircraft price (market appraisal)USD 17.5 m10Aviation Strategy (данные AVAC)
2019-10Lease per monthUSD 200 k10Aviation Strategy (данные AVAC)
2019-10Aircraft price (market appraisal)USD 21.4 m10Aviation Strategy (данные AVAC)
2018-10Lease per monthUSD 172 k10Aviation Strategy (данные AVAC)
2018-10Aircraft price (market appraisal)USD 16.8 m10Aviation Strategy (данные AVAC)
2018-01Aircraft price (list)USD 101 mnewBusiness Traveller
2017-10Lease per monthUSD 190 k10Aviation Strategy (данные AVAC)
2017-10Aircraft price (market appraisal)USD 17.4 m10Aviation Strategy (данные AVAC)