Airbus A300 was the first aircraft being developed by Airbus. The A300 is a short- to medium range wide body aircraft. It was also the first aircraft in its class and a total of five variants were build. Tristar Air operates A300B4-203 with General Electric (GE) CF6-50C2 engines.

When the American aviation industry made their uprising in the late 60’s, European aviation companies engaged into a competition with the Americans. The result of cooperation between several European countries resulted into a consortium of aerospace companies, which is known nowadays as Airbus. In September 1967 Airbus started with development of a 300-seater. Later on the original 300-seat airliners design changed into a smaller 250-seat design. The A300 gained a “B” suffix to denote this change. In 1972 two prototypes of A300B1s were built and one made its maiden flight on 28 October 1972. In April 1974 A300B2 made its first production flight with Air France. The B2 was initially 2.65 meters longer then the B1. Following the B2, the B2-200 was introduced which had Krueger leading edge flaps, different wheels and brakes. Afterwards B2-300 was introduced with increased payload and multi stop capability. Though, the initial success of the A300 came from the B4-100/200. The B4 had greater range and higher Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW). B4-200 featured reinforced wings and fuselage, improved landing gear and optional rear cargo bay fuel tank.

Production of the Airbus A300B2/B4 ceased in May 1984 with total deliveries of 249 A300B2/B4’s. Airbus later introduced A300B4-600 that incorporated a number of significant improvements and refinements from the B4-100/200, foremost being a two crew flight deck and having increased range. Initially only three models of the A300 were successfully operational.

The A300B4 are exceptional freighters for short-to medium routes. Its 5.6-meter wide fuselage can sustain up to 21 pallets on the main deck and can carry up to 45 tons of cargo.