The Airbus A320 - one of which has disappeared over the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people on board - is a short-haul workhorse with one of the industry's best safety records.
The model is a twin-engine, single-aisle plane typically seating 150 passengers.
It comes from the world's best-selling single-aisle aircraft family, which includes the A318, A319, A320 and A321.
The 6,700-strong fleet has accumulated nearly 180 million flight hours in more than 98 million flights.
The aircraft that disappeared en route to Cairo - an A320-200 - was powered by IAE engines and had approximately 48,000 flight hours.
It was manufactured in November 2003 and had the registration SU-GCC.
Airbus issued a statement saying it "stands by ready to provide full technical assistance" to investigators, adding: "Our concerns go to all those affected."
While accidents caused by mechanical failure are rare, A320s have been involved in 68 incidents since entering service in 1988, according to the Aviation Safety Network.
A male passenger hijacked a plane and forced it to make an unauthorised landing in Cyprus in March. None of the 64 crew and passengers on board the EgyptAir flight from Alexandria to Cairo were harmed.
In March last year, 150 passengers and crew died when co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed Germanwings flight 4U9525 into the French Alps.
Lubitz had locked the captain out of the cockpit and deliberately set the plane on a collision course with the mountainside.
An Airbus A320 operated by AirAsia Indonesia crashed into the Java Sea on its way from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore in December 2014. All 162 people on board Flight QZ8501 were killed.
The accident was caused by a problem with the rudder control system, coupled with the pilots' response, according to Indonesian investigators.
An A320 ditched into the Hudson River in New York after hitting a flock of geese and suffering an engine failure in January 2009.
Captain Chesley Sullenberger was hailed a hero after safely landing the aircraft in the water. None of the 150 passengers and crew were seriously hurt.
