The A320 family is hardly under-represented in 1:400 scale. Even so most manufacturers are fixated on the now and looking back to the service entry of the original A320 is way outside their interest. That’s a shame as there are plenty of cool models that have not been made for A320s from 1987-1995.
Just for the A320 alone there have been over 750 models made and moulds from almost every manufacturer, from the awful (Dragon Wings and Aviation400) to the awesome (Aeroclassics and Panda), have graced our collections. But that doesn’t mean coverage is particularly good especially for years before 1:400s started rolling off the production line.
I can still remember being super-excited one day at the tail end of the 1980s as I sat by the side of the runway at Gatwick with my dad when I saw something I couldn’t quite identify coming in to land. Usually I could identify everything from not long after you could see the landing lights on approach but it wasn’t until near touchdown that I tweaked that this was my first ever A320 in the colours of British Airways.
In later years the A320 family has become so ubiquitous that it is easy to forget that the programme’s success was far from a certainty. By 1995 production was well into the 500s and the A320 was proving the match for the 737 Classic line and MD-80/90.
It is therefore surprising how many A320s are yet to be made representing often major or historically significant airlines from the first 8 years of production. Panda not long ago made a house colours series 100 but that is just scratching the surface. Here are 20+ others crying out to be made:
Great Britain
Europe
The Americas
Africa / Middle East
Flitestar was the first new South African airline to challenge SAA in the new era of deregulation and began operations on October 16, 1991 with 4 A320s. Unfortunately it only lasted until April 1994 but nonetheless has an important place in South African aviation history and was the first A320 operator in Africa.
Asia
