Only 255 Were Built, But This Airbus Twinjet Rewrote The Rules Of Ocean Crossings

The Airbus A310 is not the aircraft most people think of when they consider the history of twin-engine ocean crossings. That distinction usually goes to the Boeing 767 or the 777. But the A310-300, powered by GE CF6-80C2 or Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines and certified for 180-minute ETOPS, was among the first twin-engine widebodies to fly revenue transatlantic services on routes that had previously required three or four engines. Only 255 were built between 1981 and 1998. Pan Am, Delta, Air France, TAP Air Portugal, Wardair, and Canadian Airlines all flew it across the Atlantic.