At the time the images below were taken on August 17, 2016, C-FTJQ, an Airbus A320 belonging to Air Canada, was nearly 25 years old. The aircraft took its first flight on September 3, 1991. With the announcement this week by Air Canada of their new black, red and white livery, the next time we photo this airplane, it very well might look quite different.
The images in the gallery below were taken at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario. For full size, high definition versions of each picture, simply click on the individual photos. For more information on this specific airplane, including a scary incident back in 2009, along with info on the Airbus A320 in general and the airline, see below.
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C-FTJQ
Airbus A320
Air Canada
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C-FTJQ Air Canada Airbus A320 Image Gallery
C-FTJQ
C-FTJQ, an Airbus A320-211, made its first flight on September 3, 1991 and was delivered to Air Canada on October 28, 1991. This is one of 42 Airbus A320’s in Air Canada’s fleet. The aircraft is currently configured with 14 seats in business class with 36 more in premium economy and 96 in economy class.
On April 14, 2009, C-FTJQ suffered a serious incident that could very well have been catastrophic. On a flight from Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL) in Dorval, Quebec to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) in South Florida, the airplane experienced problems with the flight controls, not long after take-off.
30 minutes in, the crew decided to return to YUL. On final approach, the crew experienced severe mechanical turbulence and lost control of the airplane momentarily. It was deemed a spoiler fault. C-FTJQ landed safely and a replacement airplane was brought in to take the passengers to their destination.
Airbus A320
Airbus first introduced the A320 in 1988 with Air France. The A320 family includes the extended A321 and the shrunken A319 and A318. As of January 31, 2017, Airbus has built nearly 7,500 aircraft in this family with nearly 4,400 being A320-200.
The direct competition to the Boeing 737 is flown by a cockpit crew of two. The airliner is 38 metres or 123 feet in length with a wingspan of 36 metres or 118 feet. At the tail, the Airbus A320 is 12 metres or 39 feet in height. With a typical payload, the aircraft has a flight range of 6,100 kilometres.
Air Canada
Founded in 1937 as Trans-Canada Air Lines, Air Canada is headquartered at Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Dorval, Quebec. The airline travels to 200 destinations worldwide with a fleet of 169 aircraft.
The largest airplane currently in the Air Canada fleet is the Boeing 777-300ER. The airline operates 19 of these giants. However, it’s the Airbus A320-200 that is found the most with 42 in the fleet.
Air Canada is a founding member of the Star Alliance. Star has 27 member airlines worldwide and was founded by Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways and United Airlines.
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