Development Airbus A380

1 development

1.1 background
1.2 total development cost
1.3 production
1.4 testing
1.5 production , delivery delays
1.6 entry service
1.7 improvements , upgrades
1.8 post-delivery issues

development
background

in mid-1988, airbus engineers led jean roeder began work in secret on development of ultra-high-capacity airliner (uhca), both complete own range of products , break dominance boeing had enjoyed in market segment since 1970s 747. mcdonnell douglas unsuccessfully offered smaller, double-deck md-12 concept sale. roeder given approval further evaluations of uhca after formal presentation president , ceo in june 1990. megaproject announced @ 1990 farnborough airshow, stated goal of 15% lower operating costs 747-400. airbus organised 4 teams of designers, 1 each of partners (aérospatiale, british aerospace, deutsche aerospace ag, casa) propose new technologies future aircraft designs. designs presented in 1992 , competitive designs used.

in january 1993, boeing , several companies in airbus consortium started joint feasibility study of large commercial transport (vlct), aiming form partnership share limited market. joint study abandoned 2 years later, boeing s interest having declined because analysts thought such product unlikely cover projected $15 billion development cost. despite fact 2 airlines had expressed public interest in purchasing such plane, airbus pursuing own large-plane project. analysts suggested boeing instead pursue stretching 747 design, , air travel moving away hub-and-spoke system consolidated traffic large planes, , toward more non-stop routes served smaller planes.

in june 1994, airbus announced plan develop own large airliner, designated a3xx. airbus considered several designs, including unusual side-by-side combination of 2 fuselages a340, largest airbus jet @ time. a3xx pitted against vlct study , boeing s own new large aircraft successor 747. 1997 2000, east asian financial crisis darkened market outlook, airbus refined design, targeting 15–20% reduction in operating costs on existing boeing 747–400. a3xx design converged on double-decker layout provided more passenger volume traditional single-deck design, in line traditional hub-and-spoke theory opposed point-to-point theory boeing 777, after conducting extensive market analysis on 200 focus groups. although marketing of huge cross-section touted possibility of duty-free shops, restaurant-like dining, gyms, casinos , beauty parlours on board, realities of airline economics have kept such dreams grounded.

on 19 december 2000, supervisory board of newly restructured airbus voted launch €8.8-billion programme build a3xx, re-christened a380, 50 firm orders 6 launch customers. a380 designation break previous airbus families, had progressed sequentially a300 a340. chosen because number 8 resembles double-deck cross section, , lucky number in asian countries aircraft being marketed. aircraft configuration finalised in 2001, , manufacturing of first a380 wing-box component started on 23 january 2002. development cost of a380 had grown €11–14 billion when first aircraft completed.

total development cost

in 2000, projected development cost €9.5 billion. in 2004 airbus estimated 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) added €10.3 bn ($12.7 bn) total. in 2006 @ €10.2 billion, airbus stopped publishing reported cost , provisioned €4.9 bn after difficulties in electric cabling , 2 years delay estimated total of €18 bn.

in 2014, aircraft estimated have cost $25bn (£16bn – €18.9bn) develop. in 2015, airbus said development costs €15bn (£11.4bn – $16.95 bn), though analysts believe figure @ least €5bn ($5.65 bn) more €20 bn ($22.6 bn) total. in 2016, a380 development costs estimated @ $25 billion 15 years, $25–30 billion, or 25 billion euros ($28 billion).

production

geographical logistics sequence a380, final assembly in toulouse

major structural sections of a380 built in france, germany, spain, , united kingdom. due sections large size, traditional transportation methods proved unfeasible, brought jean-luc lagardère plant assembly hall in toulouse, france, specialised road , water transportation, though parts moved a300-600st beluga transport aircraft. a380 components provided suppliers around world; 4 largest contributors, value, rolls-royce, safran, united technologies , general electric.

for surface movement of large a380 structural components, complex route known itinéraire à grand gabarit developed. involved construction of fleet of roll-on/roll-off (roro) ships , barges, construction of port facilities , development of new , modified roads accommodate oversized road convoys. front , rear fuselage sections shipped on 1 of 3 roro ships hamburg in northern germany united kingdom. wings manufactured @ broughton in north wales, transported barge mostyn docks ship transport.

a380 components on barge

in saint-nazaire in western france, ship exchanges fuselage sections hamburg larger, assembled sections, of include nose. ship unloads in bordeaux. ship picks belly , tail sections construcciones aeronáuticas sa in cádiz in southern spain, , delivers them bordeaux. there, a380 parts transported barge langon, , oversize road convoys assembly hall in toulouse. in order avoid damage direct handling, parts secured in custom jigs carried on self-powered wheeled vehicles.

after assembly, aircraft flown hamburg finkenwerder airport (xfw) furnished , painted. airbus sized production facilities , supply chain production rate of 4 a380s per month.

testing

the first completed a380 @ a380 reveal event in toulouse, france, 18 january 2005



a380 prototype on maiden flight

five a380s built testing , demonstration purposes. first a380, registered f-wwow, unveiled in toulouse 18 january 2005. first flew on 27 april 2005. plane, equipped rolls-royce trent 900 engines, flew toulouse–blagnac airport crew of 6 headed chief test pilot jacques rosay. rosay said flying a380 had been handling bicycle .

on 1 december 2005, a380 achieved maximum design speed of mach 0.96, (its design cruise speed mach 0.85) in shallow dive. in 2006, a380 flew first high-altitude test @ addis ababa bole international airport. conducted second high-altitude test @ same airport in 2009. on 10 january 2006, flew josé maría córdova international airport in colombia, accomplishing transatlantic testing, , went el dorado international airport test engine operation in high-altitude airports. arrived in north america on 6 february 2006, landing in iqaluit, nunavut in canada cold-weather testing.

flight test engineer s station on lower deck of a380 f-wwow

on 14 february 2006, during destructive wing strength certification test on msn5000, test wing of a380 failed @ 145% of limit load, short of required 150% level. airbus announced modifications adding 30 kg (66 lb) wing provide required strength. on 26 march 2006, a380 underwent evacuation certification in hamburg. 8 of 16 exits arbitrarily blocked, 853 mixed passengers , 20 crew exited darkened aircraft in 78 seconds, less 90 seconds required certification. 3 days later, a380 received european aviation safety agency (easa) , united states federal aviation administration (faa) approval carry 853 passengers.

the first a380 using gp7200 engines—serial number msn009 , registration f-wwea—flew on 25 august 2006. on 4 september 2006, first full passenger-carrying flight test took place. aircraft flew toulouse 474 airbus employees on board, in test of passenger facilities , comfort. in november 2006, further series of route-proving flights demonstrated aircraft s performance 150 flight hours under typical airline operating conditions. of 2014, a380 test aircraft continue perform test procedures.

airbus obtained type certificates a380-841 , a380-842 model easa , faa on 12 december 2006 in joint ceremony @ company s french headquarters, receiving icao code a388. a380-861 model obtained type certificate on 14 december 2007.

production , delivery delays

naked cabin flight tests water tanks ballast

initial production of a380 troubled delays attributed 530 km (330 mi) of wiring in each aircraft. airbus cited underlying causes complexity of cabin wiring (98,000 wires , 40,000 connectors), concurrent design , production, high degree of customisation each airline, , failures of configuration management , change control. german , spanish airbus facilities continued use catia version 4, while british , french sites migrated version 5. caused overall configuration management problems, @ least in part because wire harnesses manufactured using aluminium rather copper conductors necessitated special design rules including non-standard dimensions , bend radii; these not transferred between versions of software.

airbus announced first delay in june 2005 , notified airlines deliveries delayed 6 months. reduced total number of planned deliveries end of 2009 120 90–100. on 13 june 2006, airbus announced second delay, delivery schedule slipping additional 6 7 months. although first delivery still planned before end of 2006, deliveries in 2007 drop 9 aircraft, , deliveries end of 2009 cut 70–80 aircraft. announcement caused 26% drop in share price of airbus parent, eads, , led departure of eads ceo noël forgeard, airbus ceo gustav humbert, , a380 programme manager charles champion. on 3 october 2006, upon completion of review of a380 programme, airbus ceo christian streiff announced third delay, pushing first delivery october 2007, followed 13 deliveries in 2008, 25 in 2009, , full production rate of 45 aircraft per year in 2010. delay increased earnings shortfall projected airbus through 2010 €4.8 billion.

as airbus prioritised work on a380-800 on a380f, freighter orders cancelled fedex , united parcel service, or converted a380-800 emirates , ilfc. airbus suspended work on freighter version, said remained on offer, albeit without service entry date. passenger version airbus negotiated revised delivery schedule , compensation 13 customers, of retained orders placing subsequent orders, including emirates, singapore airlines, qantas, air france, qatar airways, , korean air.

beginning in 2007 a380 considered potential replacement existing boeing vc-25 serving air force 1 presidential transport, in january 2009 eads declared not going bid contract, assembling 3 planes in not make financial sense.

on 13 may 2008, airbus announced reduced deliveries years 2008 (12) , 2009 (21). after further manufacturing setbacks, airbus announced plan deliver 14 a380s in 2009, down revised target of 18. total of 10 a380s delivered in 2009. in 2010 airbus delivered 18 of expected 20 a380s, due rolls-royce engine availability problems. airbus planned deliver between 20 , 25 a380s in 2011 before ramping 3 month in 2012. in fact, airbus delivered 26 units, outdoing predicted output first time. of july 2012, production 3 aircraft per month. among production problems challenging interiors, interiors being installed sequentially rather concurrently in smaller planes, , union/government objections streamlining.

at july 2016 farnborough airshow airbus announced in “prudent, proactive step,” starting in 2018 expects deliver 12 a380 aircraft per year, down 27 deliveries in 2015. firm warned production might slip red ink on each aircraft produced @ time, though anticipates production remain in black 2016 , 2017. “the company continue improve efficiency of industrial system achieve breakeven @ 20 aircraft in 2017 , targets additional cost reduction initiatives lower breakeven further.” airbus expects healthy demand other aircraft allow avoid job losses cuts.

as airbus expects build 15 airliners in 2017 , 12 in 2018, airbus commercial aircraft president fabrice brégier said without orders in 2017 production should reduced below 1 per month while remaining profitable per unit , have program continue 20 30 years. within 2017 half-year report, airbus adjusted 2019 deliveries 8 aircraft. in november 2017, chief executive tom enders confident airbus still produce a380s in 2027 more sales come, , further develop keep competitive beyond 2030. airbus profitable @ rate of 15 per year , trying drive breakeven down further make losses @ 8 per year.

entry service

a singapore airlines a380 @ zürich airport

nicknamed superjumbo, first a380, msn003 (registered 9v-ska), delivered singapore airlines on 15 october 2007 , entered service on 25 october 2007 flight number sq380 between singapore , sydney. passengers bought seats in charity online auction paying between $560 , $100,380. 2 months later, singapore airlines ceo chew choong seng stated a380 performing better either airline , airbus had anticipated, burning 20% less fuel per seat-mile airline s 747–400 fleet. emirates tim clark claimed a380 has better fuel economy @ mach 0.86 @ 0.83, , technical dispatch reliability @ 97%, same singapore airlines. airbus committed reach industry standard of 98.5%.

emirates second airline receive a380 , commenced service between dubai , new york in august 2008. qantas followed, flights between melbourne , los angeles in october 2008. end of 2008, 890,000 passengers had flown on 2,200 flights.

an air france a380 on approach washington dulles international airport

in february 2009, 1 millionth passenger flown singapore airlines , may of year 1,500,000 passengers had flown on 4,200 flights. air france received first a380 in october 2009. lufthansa received first a380 in may 2010. july 2010, 31 a380s in service had transported 6 million passengers on 17,000 flights between 20 international destinations.

airbus delivered 100th a380 on 14 march 2013 malaysia airlines. in june 2014, on 65 million passengers had flown a380, , more 100 million passengers (averaging 375 per flight) september 2015, availability of 98.5%. in 2014, emirates stated a380 fleet had load factors of 90–100%, , popularity of aircraft passengers had not decreased in past year.

improvements , upgrades

in 2010, airbus announced new a380 build standard, incorporating strengthened airframe structure , 1.5° increase in wing twist. airbus offer, option, improved maximum take-off weight, providing better payload/range performance. maximum take-off weight increased 4 t (8,800 lb), 573 t (1,263,000 lb) , range extended 100 nautical miles (190 km); achieved reducing flight loads, partly optimising fly-by-wire control laws. british airways , emirates first 2 customers have received new option in 2013. emirates has asked update new engines a380 competitive 777x around 2020, , airbus studying 11-abreast seating.

in 2012, airbus announced increase in a380 s maximum take-off weight 575 t (1,268,000 lb), 6 t increase initial a380 variant , 2 t higher increased-weight proposal of 2010. range increase 150 nautical miles (280 km), taking capability around 8,350 nautical miles (15,460 km) @ current payloads. higher-weight version offered introduction service in 2013.

post-delivery issues

during repairs following qantas flight 32 engine failure incident, cracks discovered in wing fittings. result, european aviation safety agency issued airworthiness directive in january 2012 affected 20 a380 aircraft had accumulated on 1,300 flights. a380s under 1,800 flight hours inspected within 6 weeks or 84 flights; aircraft on 1,800 flight hours examined within 4 days or 14 flights. fittings found cracked replaced. on 8 february 2012, checks extended cover 68 a380 aircraft in operation. problem considered minor , not expected affect operations. eads acknowledged cost of repairs on $130 million, borne airbus. company said problem traced stress , material used fittings. additionally, major airlines seeking compensation airbus revenue lost result of cracks , subsequent grounding of fleets. airbus has switched different type of aluminium alloy aircraft delivered 2014 onwards should not have issue.

airbus changing 10% of doors, leak during flight. 1 occurrence resulted in dropped oxygen masks , emergency landing. switch expected cost on €100 million. airbus states safety sufficient, air pressure pushes door frame.