AIRCRAFT
The Airbus Corporate Jetliner, or A319CJ, is a long range corporate jet development of the A319 airliner to compete directly with the 737 based Boeing Business Jet and dedicated long range corporate jets such as the Bombardier Global Express and Gulfstream V.Airbus launched the A319CJ at the 1997 Paris Airshow and the first A319CJ order, announced in December 1997, was placed by a Kuwaiti individual. Among the later customers are the Italian, French, and Venezuelan Air Forces, Taiwan's Eva Air, and Qatar Airways.
The first Airbus A319CJ rolled out of Dasa's Hamburg A319/A321 assembly hall in October 1998. The airframe was then due to be fitted with belly auxiliary fuel tanks and flight test instrumentation prior to making a first flight in May 1999. Certification is planned for mid 1999 with the first customer delivery due in November that year.
Unlike the Boeing Business Jet, which combines the 737-700's airframe with the 737-800's strengthened wing and undercarriage, the A319CJ is designed to be a minimum change development of the A319. This means, according to Airbus, that the A319CJ can be easily converted to an airliner, thus increasing the aircraft's potential resale value.
The initial version of the A319CJ is powered by IAE V2500s but General Electric CFM56s are also available, while the A319's containerised cargo hold means that the CJ's auxiliary fuel tanks can be easily loaded and unloaded, giving operators flexibility to reconfigure the aircraft for varying payload/range requirements. The A319CJ with up to seven auxiliary fuel tanks installed in the cargo compartment, can carry 10 passengers over distances of up to 6,900 nm (12,800 km).
Like the rest of the A320 single aisle family (plus the A330 and A340), the A319CJ shares Airbus' common advanced six screen EFIS flightdeck with sidestick controllers, plus fly-by-wire flight controls.
Airbus had selected five cabin outfitters for the aircraft - among which Lufthansa Technik in Germany, Jet Aviation of Switzerland, and Air France Industries in 2002. Airbus will supply green A319CJ airframes to the outfitters for interior fitment. Interiors weigh around 3.8 tonnes (8500lb) and cost $US4-10m. Outfitting will typically take four to six months.
The first was delivered to the Italian Air Force in February 2000. Since 2003, an A319CJ has been the main presidential aircraft of Brazil. The model seats up to a maximum of 39 passengers but may be outfitted by customers into any configuration.
DaimlerChrysler, Reliance Industries, and PrivatAir of Switzerland are among the users of the A319CJ, which is also known as the ACJ, or Airbus Corporate Jet. Upon resale, the aircraft can be reconfigured as a standard A319 by removing the extra tanks, thus maximizing its resale value.
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