Airbus A319 OH

A member of the A320 family, the Airbus 319 first flew in 1995 and can carry between 124 to 156 passengers up to 4,300 miles. There are two production lines for the type, one in Germany and another in China who have so far produced over 1,500 airframes. The A319 is a popular regional airliner with operators including EasyJet who fly 172 aircraft. A VIP private jet version known as the A319CJ is flown by a number of governments and air forces as their VIP/Presidential transports. A maritime patrol version has also been proposed as a rival to the Boeing P-8 Poseidon however this has not yet found a customer.

Germany operates a fleet of three A319CJ VIP transports which are all operated by the Executive Transport Wing of the Luftwaffe which is based at Cologne Bonn Airport. Two aircraft were originally ordered new and delivered in 2010, a third aircraft was acquired in 2019 which had been previously operated by Volkswagen. This third aircraft has been heavily modified and is referred to by Airbus as the A319 OH (Offener Himmell). The aircraft is equipped with cameras and infrared sensors which the Luftwaffe use to conduct Open Skies Treaty missions.

As part of our celebration of 75 years of NATO, the Luftwaffe will be providing their unique A319 OH for static display at this year’s Air Tattoo.

Photo Credit: Bundeswehr