15 FlightCom Magazine
Feature
RepoRt: Guy Leitch - WiththankstoaWs&tFifty years ago, at the 1969 Paris Air Show, Airbus launched itself with the
Airbus A300. In the intervening 50 years the company has grown into a
massive airframe, defence and space conglomerate. The A300 turned the
airline industry on its head. But it took a while.
CELEBRATES 50 YEARS
AIRBUSAIRBUS
T
HE A300 was the first European
twin-aisle twin-engine jet for
medium-haul air travel. What
is arguably far more significant
was that Airbus managed to
integrate production of aircraft across
European nations and deliver a world class
product that matches or exceeds the giant
Boeing in sales.
But the pan-European conglomerate
had a shaky start. In early 1969, in the light
of the financial disaster that was Concorde,
the Labour party British government
under Harold Wilson pulled out from its
commitment to support a European twin-
aisle airliner. After the many failures of
aircraft launched by national industries , the
French and Germans had agreed to support
a pan-European airliner programme. But
without British involvement, the proposed
Airbus A300 was engineless.Aviation enthusiast
and pilot Franz Josef
Strauss was a key
founder of Airbus.The A300 - the Airbus that started it all.