Sud Aviation Caravelle
French twin-jet narrow-body airliner produced 1958–1972
The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle is a rear-engine narrow-body jet airliner produced by French Sud Aviation.
It was developed by SNCASE in the early 1950s, and made its maiden flight on May 27, 1955. It included some de Havilland designs and components developed for the de Havilland Comet, the first jet airliner. SNCASE merged into the larger Sud Aviation conglomerate before the aircraft entered revenue service on April 26, 1959, with Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS); 282 were built until production ended in 1972. It was ordered by airlines on every continent and operated until its retirement in 2005.
The short-range, five-abreast airliner is powered by two aft-mounted Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engines, allowing a clean low wing.
The configuration was later retained in many narrow-body aircraft and regional jets.
The initial I, III and VI variants could seat 90 to 99 passengers over 1,650 to 2,500 kilometres (1,030 to 1,550 mi; 890 to 1,350 nmi).
The later, slightly longer 10/11 variants could seat 99 to 118 passengers over 2,800 to 3,300 kilometres (1,700 to 2,100 mi; 1,500 to 1,800 nmi) and were powered by Pratt & Whitney JT8D low-bypass turbofans.
The stretched Caravelle 12 could seat 131 over 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi; 1,700 nmi).
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6503. The Library of Congress control number is sh85020068. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1955, 1959, 1972 and 2005.
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