A319 & A321 | 2004

(TOP)
Airline - Dhahrani
Aircraft - Airbus A319-112 | A9-VFA
Delivered to Dhahrani, 2004
Livery - Standard 2003
Country - Kingdom of Dhahran

(BOTTOM)
Airline - Dhahrani
Aircraft - Airbus A321-211 | A9-VHA
Delivered to Dhahrani, 2004
Livery - Standard 2003
Country - Kingdom of Dhahran

In 2004 Dhahrani took delivery of two new aircraft types, the A319 and A321, which complemented the A320s already in the fleet. The A319 was aimed mostly at short-range operations, replacing the 737-300, while the A321 was meant for both higher-demand short-range flights and longer routes, partially replacing both the A310-200 and A310-300. In fact, the first route the A321 entered service on was the Ras Al Qua to Mahé, replacing the A310-200. The A319 first started flying to Beirut and Dubai, soon expanding its service to many cities across the region. Like the A320, however, both types were also used on longer routes to Europe, East Africa, and the Indian Subcontinent. In addition to this, around ten years after delivery three A321s were reconfigured in an all-Business-Class configuration to operate special Business-only flights to London, Frankfurt, Singapore, and Moscow (with the third route being terminated in 2017 in favor of an additional daily London frequency, though restarted temporarily during the 2018 World Cup).

The A319s and A321s were fitted with 33-34" of seat pitch in Economy and in-seat IFE in all classes. This new regional interior standard was retrofitted to the A320s already in the fleet by 2005. The next-generation (at the time) narrowbodies were beloved by passengers for their comfort. While the A319 and A321 have not caused any fatalities, and in fact Dhahrani has had a perfect safety rating (no lives lost in any accident) since its founding, one A319 was destroyed during a failed low-altitude go around attempt in Dushanbe, when it impacted the runway at high speed and continued off the runway and past the airport perimeter. While the aircraft was very heavily damaged during the crash and mostly destroyed by fire, all 104 passengers and crew on board evacuated before the fire entered the fuselage, escaping with mostly minor injuries. While this was the most significant accident involving a Dhahrani aircraft, luckily it resulted only in the destruction of the aircraft without any loss of life.

Disclaimer: This project is designed to look at the progression of aviation in a more-or-less generic fictional Middle Eastern state. The fictional Kingdom of Dhahran is located near the real Saudi Arabian city called Dhahran, but has no affiliation with it, and the name is a coincidence. Any other similarities to real people, locations, or situations may be intentional. I have zero knowledge of Arabic, so while I have spent considerable time trying to get it right, mistakes are possible, and any advice is greatly appreciated.