4 November 2005
 
Third A380 joins the two development aircraft in certification campaign. This aircraft will be the first to be fitted with a full cabin and will be used for cabin and cargo systems development and certification.
 
Airbus’ third A380 performed a successful first flight on the afternoon of 3rd November. The flight lasted three hours and took the aircraft  over Southern France. During the flight, all systems were checked out and the whole flight envelope was cleared. The tests performed were similar to those of a serial production plane. The aircraft joins the first two A380s, which together have already performed some 440 test flight hours in more than 120 flights. The three development aircraft are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines.
 
The crew for this first flight comprised experimental test pilots Wolfgang Absmeier and Hugues van der Stichel, with flight test engineers Jean Piatek and Wolfgang Brueggemann, and Bruno Bigand, test flight engineer.
 
While the first two A380s are equipped with heavy test instrumentation, the third A380 to take to the air only has some medium-sized instrumentation. After complete checks, it will fly to Hamburg where it will be the first to be fitted with a full cabin. The aircraft will be used for cabin and cargo systems development and certification, for the Early Long range Flights to be performed with Airbus personnel, as well as for further airport compatibility trials. First airport trials were successfully performed on 29th October in Frankfurt.
 
Two more A380s are to join the test programme, MSN 7 which will be equipped with a light test instrumentation and will be used for Route Proving flights, and MSN 9 which will be equipped with the Engine Alliance GP7000 engine
 
Test flights are progressing well towards type certification in the last quarter of 2006 in time for the first delivery to initial operator Singapore Airlines. So far, Airbus has received 159 firm orders and commitments from 16 customers, reflecting the success of the all-new double-decker on the market.  
 

 

The A380 flew to Frankfurt to perform ground handling tests, the first time the aircraft has landed at a major commercial airport. Tests were conducted with the assistance of Lufthansa which is one of the A380 launch customers and predominantly consist of demonstrating the ground handling capabilities of the aircraft, typically performed between two intercontinental flights.
 
An Airbus A380 performed airport compatibility verification trials on 29th October at Frankfurt airport with the assistance of Lufthansa. These tests are a technical exercise as they were also previously performed with large Airbus aircraft, such as the A340-600, before entry into service. They serve as preparation for the A380 tour to Asian and Australian cities as well its participation in the Dubai Airshow in November.
 
The tests in Frankfurt, and subsequently in Asia and Australia, build on many years of cooperation between Airbus, A380 customer airlines and more than 60 airports around the world that will be served by the A380 by 2010. The tests predominantly consist of demonstrating the ground handling capabilities of the aircraft, typically performed between two intercontinental flights as well as landing and taxiing around the airport.
 
The A380 docked at Frankfurt’s terminal 2, stand E9, where several ramp scenarios were investigated. Processes to be tested included passenger boarding bridge positioning, including to the upper deck door, servicing vehicle access, such as catering trucks, cargo loaders, fuel bowsers and water servicing. Stand E9 at Frankfurt’s Terminal 2 is currently already equipped with two bridges, one of which has the capability to reach the first door of the A380 upper deck.
 
With main and lower deck doors as well as ground service connection points at a similar height to those of existing large aircraft, the A380 mostly uses existing ground servicing equipment. The majority of cabin servicing will be to the main deck of the aircraft with only one new type of catering vehicle required to access the upper deck in order to enhance catering times. Due to its higher weight, more powerful tow tractors are also required. Both of these vehicles are compatible with existing aircraft and are available from several manufacturers, some of which provided units for the tests.
 
The A380 cabin has been designed to offer boarding times comparable to those of other large aircraft, even with 35 per cent more passengers, while using only two main deck bridges. Most A380 destination airports are also planning some form of upper deck access to enhance product differentiation and passenger service levels. However, since the cabin of the A380 test aircraft is not equipped with seats, no full-scale passenger boarding and de-boarding trials were conducted. These will take place during future tests with aircraft equipped with representative passenger cabins and due to join the flight test programme by the turn of the year.
 
The aircraft being used in the tests is one of the two early flight test aircraft, which are equipped with heavy test instrumentation. So far the two development aircraft currently flying have performed 410 flight hours during 120 flights, mainly from Toulouse where Airbus’ flight test centre is located. Some trials were performed at the French military base in Istres, as well as in Tarbes. In total, five A380s will be involved in the development programme leading to type certification in the second half of 2006.
 
With an airport-optimised design, the A380 can take off and land in less distance than today’s largest airliner. In response to airport recommendations, the length and wingspan of the A380 have been limited to less than 80 meters, making it easier to integrate the world’s largest airliner into existing airport facilities.
 
Airbus’ A380 Family (A380 and A380F) has already won a strong foothold on the market, with 16 of the world’s most prestigious carriers and lessors having placed orders for 159 aircraft.  In addition to Lufthansa, these include Singapore Airlines, which will be the first to take delivery of an A380, at the end of 2006, followed by Qantas Airways and Emirates in the second quarter of 2007.
 

 

29 October 2005
 
Airbus has completed a major milestone in the A380 programme, successfully carrying out the first airport compatibility tests at Frankfurt airport on 29 October.
 
Thousands of spectators along with VIPs, representatives from A380 launch customer Lufthansa, and Frankfurt airport operators Fraport, flocked to the airport to see the aircraft emerge quietly from the early morning fog for its debut landing at an international commercial airport.
 
After a  90-minute flight from Toulouse to Frankfurt with six crew onboard, the aircraft landed at 8.56am local time  and taxied flawlessly to dock at gate E9 of Terminal 2 where, following the morning’s media events, a series of compatibility tests were carried out throughout the day.
 
Airbus president and CEO Gustav Humbert was in Frankfurt for the tests and said the company was happy with the overall flight test results so far and was pleased with the choice of Frankfurt as the compatibility test airport.
 
Several ramp scenarios were tested. These included a full ground support equipment positioning, passenger bridge testing, cargo loading and offloading, fuel bowser testing, catering, firefighting and de-icing. All of these were completed successfully.
 
Following the compatibility tests, the aircraft was towed to a Lufthansa hangar for an evening event and was then towed around the airport for six hours for instrument landing system (ILS) tests.  
 

 

29 October 2005
 
The six crew members who flew the A380 into Frankfurt received a stirring welcome as they came in through the early morning fog for the aircraft’s first landing at an international commercial airport.
 
The A380 crew was very much in demand from the huge press contingent covering the event, and this was especially true for the three German crew members, one of which was a former astronaut.
 
Wolfgang Absmeier, experimental test pilot, engineering, flight operations, captained the flight. Klaus-Dietrich Flade, experimental test pilot, flight operations, was the co-pilot. Klaus-Dietrich is also a former astronaut and in March 1992 flew the Soyuz TM-14 to the Mir space station where he spent eight days. He said he is proud to fly for Airbus and is happy to be part of the team, adding that he treats flying the A380 as he would any other test aircraft.
 
The other crewmembers were Fernando Alonso, vice-president flight division, flight test engineering, A380 programme, Manfred Birnfeld, flight test engineer, Jean-Paul Lambert, test flight engineer, and Pascal Verneau, test flight engineer.  
 
Wolfgang said it was a great flight: “During the flight we had sunrise, which is always a perfect view for pilots, and then we were flying along the Alps reaching Germany, which is a big thing for me being German and being the first person to land this aircraft in Germany.”
 
The 90-minute trip from Toulouse was incident-free and operated as a normal passenger flight under normal traffic control. The aircraft landed smoothly at 8.56am and taxied to gate E9 at Terminal 2, where the tests were carried out.
 
Fernando said: “We integrated absolutely normally with the rest of the traffic. We were very surprised, very pleasantly surprised, by the very warm welcome from all the spectators. All the airport staff were greeting us with their trucks and their cars with the rotating beacons. That was very touching. And of course there was a lot of press.”
 

 

29 October 2005
 
Lufthansa, the second largest A380 customer, was involved in the preparation of the first landing of the A380 in Frankfurt and in the ground handling tests.
 
For Lufthansa, the A380 visit to its home base of Frankfurt for the aircraft’s first airport compatibility tests was a major event.
 
“This is a very important day and very significant,” said Dr Joachim Schneider, Lufthansa’s Vice President, A380 Entry Into Service. “It’s the first time an A380 has ever landed on a major airport and the first time that we actually test in reality all the processes and equipment that we need to service the aircraft on the ground.”
 
Dr Schneider said that efficiency is important on the ground as well as in the air. “We want to achieve Formula One speed during the turnaround and in order to achieve that we’re very happy to have this aircraft here today.”
 
He was confident the day’s tests would be successful, as the equipment and procedures had been tested before, although not in a full, realistic scenario. However, he hoped to learn important lessons from the tests, identifying problem areas or things they could do better.
 
“It is the details and little tricks to get things done better and more efficiently and faster that we’re looking for,” he said.
 
Lufthansa helped prepare for the A380 arrival alongside Airbus and Fraport. A number of its subsidiaries, including catering company LSG Sky Chefs, ground services group LEOS and Lufthansa Technik, were also involved in the tests.
 
Lufthansa is the second largest A380 customer and has ordered15 aircraft.
 
Dr Schneider said he is pleased with the A380 programme. “I’m happy that we have now finalised our delivery schedule,” he said. “I’m also happy that we are the first European airline to fly the A380. We are proud of being able to offer this product to our customers first here in Europe. I could only say let it go on like it has so far, let us be as a group, as a team, as successful as we’ve been to date.”
 

 

29 October 2005
 
Thousands of people turned out to see the A380 fly into Frankfurt, one of Europe’s busiest airport, where the aircraft was performing a series of ground handling tests.
 
“The future has landed in Frankfurt today.” These were the words René Steinhaus said to his colleagues as the A380 landed in Frankfurt, the first time it had done so at an international airport.
 
As Frankfurt airport’s Senior Project Manager, A380 Programme, Steinhaus played an integral role in preparations for Frankfurt’s A380 airport compatibility tests.
 
Dr Wilhelm Bender, executive board chairman of Fraport, the owner and operator of Frankfurt airport, said he was very pleased Airbus chose Frankfurt for the test programme. “I’m proud that my employees and colleagues in all the departments of the airport prepared it well and it’s a wonderful day,” he said.
 
Noting that thousands of people turned out to see the aircraft, he added: “I think not only the airport people are proud but also the entire region.”
 
Fraport is upgrading its two terminals to accommodate the A380. Earlier in October it became the first airport to order a special tow tractor designed specially for the A380. It also participated in similar ramp checks with the A340-600.
 
Frankfurt is the home base for Lufthansa, which will be the first European carrier to get the A380. After London’s Heathrow, Frankfurt is Europe’s second busiest airport and according to Steinhaus has 140,000 thousand passengers and 1,400 aircraft movements each day.
 
And for Steinhaus the day was special for another reason. It was the first time he’d seen the A380 land and take off. Despite seeing the aircraft on the final assembly line and at the reveal, he had never seen it fly.
 

 

Octobre 2005
COMMANDES  A380
 
Airbus totalise à ce jour 159 commandes et intentions d’achats pour l’A380 et l’A380F, émanant de 16 clients, à savoir, par ordre alphabétique :
 
Air France: 10
China Southern Airlines: 5
Emirates: 43 (incl. 2 A380F)
Etihad Airways: 4
Federal Express: 10 A380F
International Lease Finance Corporation: 5 A380, 5 A380F
Kingfisher: 5
Korean Airlines: 5
Lufthansa: 15
MAS: 6
Qantas Airways: 12
Qatar Airways:  2
Singapore Airlines: 10
Thai Airways International: 6
UPS:  10 A380F
Virgin Atlantic Airways: 6

Airbus A380 tour update
4 November 2005
 
At the request of Rolls-Royce, as a precautionary measure, two Trent 900 engines are being replaced on A380 number One. This follows a thorough review by the engine manufacturer of an earlier engine change, and leads to a slight shift in the A380 tour to Asia and Australia. The A380 is now due to arrive in Singapore on Friday 11th November, instead of Tuesday 8th. The subsequent tour to Australia remains unchanged. The aircraft will then visit Kuala Lumpur on Thursday 17th November.
 
The first A380 made its first flight on 27th April and the second on 18th October. In total, both aircraft have satisfactorily performed some 440 flight hours in over 120 flights. The third A380, MSN 2, had a successful maiden flight yesterday, 3rd November and joins the flight test programme. Flight tests of the A380 are progressing without any major issues being discovered. Certification is planned for the last quarter of 2006 in time for first delivery to the first operator Singapore Airlines before the end of the year.
 
Airbus is an EADS joint company with BAE Systems.

Je suis pas d'accords, tant qu'ils en vendent plus que des A300, c'est que le 345/346 n'est pas mort    
Ils en produisent 2 par mois environ. (-600 en tout cas)

Blague à part, le point fort d'Airbus dans sa gamme c'est quand même le "Cross Crew Qualification", tant que les compagnies auront des Airbus, elles acheteont toujours des Airbus grace à cela, parce que la formation des pilotes ça coûte bonbon.
C'est plus vrai pour des compagnies d'envergure moyenne, les grosses comme AF ou BA, ça l'est moins ...