EU-DIGEST

The huge Airbus 380 landed at Zurich airport Kloten today for a series of tests It will spend the next two days at the airport to undergo a series of tests needed to ensure that landings and take-offs can be permitted. Among the airlines that will fly the new Jumbo Airbus in and out of Zurich are Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Lufthansa. The tests will include the aircraft’s ability to manoeuvre safely on the ground, its effect on navigation systems and the ability to be made ready, refueled and de-iced.

Labels: A380, EU

Friday morning, at 11:39 am, Air France's Airbus A380 departed from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, operating flight AF 380, made the first transatlantic flight between Europe. The aircraft, registration F-GHJA, landed at New York-Kennedy airport at 1:07 PM. Among the 538 passengers were the 380 winning bidders for seats on the inaugural Paris-New York - Paris flights. This auction raised proceeds of 300,000 euros which will finance five different humanitarian projects by charities chosen by the Air France Foundation. The proceeds of this auction of seats on the two inaugural Paris-New York-Paris flights finally reached 300,000 euros, more than expected. The amount will thus finance 5 humanitarian projects for children in need instead of the three initially planned. The benefits of the auction for the inaugural Paris-New York-Paris flights will go to several projects in aid of humanitarian associations for children in need all over the world.

Labels: A380, Air France, Aircraft Industry, EU, Tourism, US

Air France to auction seats on first A380 flights; proceeds go to charity

Air France will auction off 380 of the 538 seats on its first two flights on the Airbus A380 super jumbo jet and the proceeds will go to charity. France's first A380 flight is set for Nov. 20 on the Paris-to-New York route. The carrier's second A380 flight will come on the return on Nov. 21. Air France will be the first European carrier to put the A380 into regularly scheduled commercial service, according to the Press Association.

Labels: A380, Air France, EU

Airbus gets order for A380 that will seat 'around 840'

Airbus says it has received its first order for a single-class A380 that apparently will seat up to 840 passengers. Airbus says that order came from Air Austral, an airline based in La Reunion –- a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, according The Associated Press. Reuters says the carrier "provisionally bought two A380s in a single-class configuration, meaning it could seat over 800" when it's delivered in 2014. Air Transport Intelligence (ATI) goes one step further, reporting that Air Austral's A380s "will be configured with around 840 seats." The publication says that configuration would be the "highest density seating of any A380 so far."

Labels: A380, Aircraft Industry, EU

New airbus 380 makes a quiet statement - by Anthony Richardson

The destination was New York’s JFK airport and the passengers were excited because they were about to embark on a small piece of aviation history: the maiden voyage of Emirates’ headline-grabbing super-jumbo – the first of 58 ordered by the company – and the first commercial flight of the Airbus A380 into the Americas.Friday’s historic flight took 13 hours and 10 minutes and a slightly rough landing at JFK was marked by a round of applause from passengers. Tomorrow, the aircraft will be on show at San Francisco International Airport before heading to the Flight Path Museum in Los Angeles on Tuesday. With Friday’s flight, Emirates became the second commercial airline to fly the A380. The first was Singapore Airlines, which operates a fleet of five super-jumbos.

Labels: A380, Airbus, Aircraft Industry, Airline Industry, Emirates

Airbus to sell five A380s to Japan's ANA

Airbus is expected to sell five A380 superjumbo aircraft to All Nippon Airways Co (ANA), its first sale of the world's biggest passenger plane to a Japanese airline, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday. A sale in Japan would be a big breakthrough for the European plane maker, a unit of European aerospace group EADS, as it has only about 4 percent of Japan's market, compared with a half share elsewhere.

Labels: A380, Aircraft Industry, EU, Japan

New delays loom for both Boeing Dreamliner and possibly the jumbo Airbus

Boeing has warned customers they face a 27-month delay in deliveries of its new Dreamliner jet, and Airbus has also told buyers of a fresh hitch in manufacturer of its jumbo A380, German news reports said Saturday. Boeing, was reported this week to have begun assembly of the fifth Dreamliner, a flight-test plane, with the project 15 months late. But the daily newspaper Die Welt said Saturday the US manufacturer was in deeper trouble than that with its B787 project. It said many airlines had been warned in a letter that deliveries planned after 2012 would be delayed as much as 27 months.

Approached for comment by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, Airbus said the A380 program was being reviewed because a key stage in the jet's manufacture, using new software to manage the wiring work, had been reached. This meant that the 26th plane to be made, the first to be have all its wiring designed by computer, would roll out late, but this did not mean the 27th would be delayed, and later jets might even be ahead of schedule. It was vital to complete the 26th perfectly as a standard for the rest. Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath said in Germany he was not aware of any letter to customers about this.

Labels: A380, Airbus, Aircraft Industry, Boeing Dreamliner 787

A380 superjumbo to make European debut in London

Airbus's A380, the world's biggest passenger plane which promises a new dimension of space and comfort for travellers, was due to land in London on Tuesday on its first commercial flight to Europe. The Singapore Airlines jet, as tall as a seven-storey building and with about 50 percent more cabin space than its rivals, was carrying 449 passengers enjoying increased legroom and state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment.

Airbus says that the A380 burns 17 percent less fuel per seat than other big airliners, adding that this will reduce the carbon footprint of each passenger. "This is the most significant step forward in reducing aircraft fuel burn and resultant emissions in four decades," it said in a statement on its website, which also described the plane as "a new generation of aircraft".

Labels: A380, Aircraft Industry, Airline Industry, EU

Korean Air to buy 3 more A380 jets from Airbus

Korean Air Co will purchase an additional three A380 superjumbo jets from Airbus on top of five jets it had earlier agreed to buy from the European aerospace firm, a company official said on Wednesday. The additional purchase by South Korea's largest carrier came through exercising an option contained in the original contract, the official added, but declined to give the value of the deal.

Labels: A380, Airbus, Aircraft Industry, EU