There were actually different variants of the A300 starting from the A300B1 which was the prototype aircraft and a second one Trans European Airways. The A300B2 was a few frames longer than the B1 and was powered by GE CF6 or Pratt and Whitney JT9D engines. The A300B4 was the version that went into full production. Philippine Airlines was one of its customers with 14 in the fleet that time. PAL's very first A300B4 had a "Love Bus" graphic at the forward area of the fuselage, which was later reincarnated 40 years later on the A350. The "Love Bus" graphic was exclusively for Philippine Airlines.
Airbus later came out with the A300-600. It had the same length as the B2 and B4 but had an increase space over the previous models. It uses the same rear fuselage as that on the A310-100 (a shorter version of the A300), it used higher power GE CF-6-80 engines or Pratt & Whitney PW4000 turbofans. It only required two pilots to fly it eliminating the need for a flight engineer, something its widebody counterparts did not have that time. It was also equipped with wingtip devices or wingfences which made the aircraft more efficient by reducing vortices on the wingtips.
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A300 cross section. Wikipedia |
The A300 had a range of 5,375 (A300B4) to 7,500 (A300-600) km and can carry a maximum of 345 passengers in a single class configuration. PAL's B4 was perfect for its regional and domestic operations where operating a 747 or DC-10 were too big and a 737 or BAC-111 were too small. PAL acquired the A300B4 in 1979. Its first commercial flight was with Air France in 1974.
The A300 was also the first ETOPS rated aircraft or Extended Twin-Engine Operations meaning it can operate further than one hour from a diversion airport with one-engine inoperative at cruise speed, over water or remote lands, on routes previously restricted to three and four-engine aircraft.
The A300 ceased production in 2007, a time when the A320, A330, and A340 were already being produced. The A330 and A340 shared the same cross-section as the A300.
PAL retired the A300B4 from service in 2001, replaced by the A330-300. Out of the 561 A300 delivered, a total of 214 are still in operation.
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