Airbus unveils Superjumbo A380
Via aerospace-technology.com. The Airbus all-new design Superjumbo, the A380, is the world's first twin-deck, twin-aisle airliner. Advantages of the A380 include lower fuel burn per seat and lower operating costs per seat. The 555 seat Airbus A380-800, with a non-stop range of 8,000nm, was launched in December 2000. The aircraft entered production in January 2002. First flight (with the Rolls-Royce engines) took place from Blagnac Airport, Toulouse, in April 2005. Over 100 test flights were completed before its first commercial flight by Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Sydney took place on 25 October 2007.
Other test flights included one in October 2005, a third in November 2005, fourth in February 2006 and fifth in May 2006. One test aircraft took part in the flight display at the Farnborough International Airshow in July 2006.
The A380, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, received joint European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Type Certification on 12th December 2006. In March 2007, one A380 test aircraft flew to New York and one to Los Angeles, the first transatlantic flights of the A380.
The first flight with the General Electric / Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance GP7200 was in August 2006 and the A380 powered by the GP7200 received FAA and EASA certification in December 2007. Launch customer for the A380 with this engine was Emirates with first delivery in July 2008.Emirates launched the A380 on its Dubai to New York route in August 2008.
Airbus Industrie is a consortium formed by EADS and BAE Systems. EADS, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, was formed by a merger of Aerospatiale-Matra of France, Daimler-Chrysler Aerospace of Germany and CASA of Spain (former members of Airbus). In October 2006, BAE Systems completed the sale of its shareholding to EADS, which is now the sole owner of Airbus. Airbus's A380 aircraft sections will be transported from sites in Broughton (UK), Hamburg (Germany), Puerto Real (Spain) and St Nazaire (France) in a specially constructed huge roll-on / roll-off vessel, the "Ville de Bordeaux", built by Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, China. The vessel was launched in July 2003 and has the largest water stern door (22m x 14m) ever built on a ro-ro vessel. The vessel will take the components to Bordeaux. From there they will be transported via specially constructed barges up the Garonne River and then transferred by road trailer to the final assembly line in Toulouse. A second ro-ro vessel, the City of Hamburg, built at ST Marine in Singapore, is to be delivered by the end of 2008 and a third in early 2009.
16 customers have announced firm orders for 200 A380 airliners, including: Singapore Airlines (launch customer with an order for 19 aircraft and five options), Lufthansa (15), Emirates (58), Air France (12), Qantas (20), British Airways (12 plus seven options), Malaysia Airlines (six), Virgin Atlantic (six) International Lease Finance (ten), Kingfisher Airlines (five), Qatar Airways (five), Korean Air (ten), Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad (MAS) (six), Thai Airways (six), Etihad Airways (four) and China Southern Airlines (five).
In June 2007, Air France ordered an additional two, Emirates an additional eight and Qatar Airways an additional three aircraft. As of December 2008, 14 aircraft had been delivered. 25 orders had been received for the cargo version but, in November 2006, Federal Express announced the cancellation of its order for 10 aircraft, citing delays in delivery dates as the cause and International Lease Finance has converted its order to the passenger version. In March 2007, UPS announced its intention to cancel the freighter order. Airbus has decided to halt the freighter programme until delays to the passenger version have been resolved.
In November 2007, the first order for the A380 Flying Palace, the VIP variant, was placed by HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud. In February 2008, an Airbus A380 made the first flight of a commercial airliner powered by a liquid fuel processed from gas, GTL (Gas to Liquids), under the company’s alternative fuel research programme. One engine was fuelled with a blend of 40% GTL and standard jet fuel, the other three with standard fuel.
The A380 is a member of the Airbus Flight Operational Commonality family with similar flight decks and operating procedures in the A320, A330 and A340 aircraft, providing easy crew transition training, cross crew qualification and mixed fleet flying. Thales Avionics developed and supplied the eight high-format, high-resolution, 150mm x 200mm (6in x 8in) liquid crystal displays and is to provide the digital Head-Up Display (HUD). Honeywell of the USA has been selected to provide the next-generation flight management system, which will have increased data handling speed and a graphical user interface with pop-up menus and cursor control, rather than a text-based interface. Honeywell will also supply the satellite communications system. Goodrich will supply air data systems. Rockwell Collins will supply communications systems including VHF and HF radios and multi-mode receivers. Northrop Grumman has been selected to provide the LTN-101E inertial navigation system. Smiths Industries will provide the video management unit which will include the display from cockpit door and cabin surveillance systems. L-3 Aviation Recorders of Florida will provide flight data and cockpit voice recorders.
