One of the difficulties faced in the early days of the European Airbus development was the lack of clear guidance by airlines as to their exact capacity requirements, and at various stages up to 11 variants were proposed of differing lengths to suit the customers. While the A300 was under development, Airbus looked at a smaller capacity variant which was in much demand by many carriers. Thus was born the A310.

The fuselage was essentially the same as that of the A300, except it was considerably shorter. Much commonality allowed the development and manufacturing costs to be kept down considerably. The wing and horizontal tail surfaces were new, including a high technology wing from BAe of much reduced area and span. From the outset the cockpit was a forward-facing two-man area, with advanced digital avionics.

The A3T0 was officially launched in July 1978, offering a capacity between 210 to 250 passengers in mixed-class layouts. The prototype first flew on 3 April 1982 and on 11 March the following year received French and West German certification. In April the launch customers Lufthansa and Swissair began services. Since then sales have been healthy, including a major order from US carrier Pan Am.

The basic production version is designated the A310-200, and since May 1986 these have been delivered with drag-reducing wingtip fences. The A310-200C and A310-200F are convertible and all-cargo versions respectively. The first major variant was the A310-300 with extended range. First flying on 8 July 1985, this variant has wingtip fences as standard, additional fuel in the tailplane and an optional central tank fitted in part of the cargo hold. Swissair was again the first customer, and in the hands of carriers such as Wardair these regularly make transatlantic crossings.