A PERFECT - Orient Aviation

AIRPORTSTOUCHDOWNAirports in Asia are well prepared for the arrival of the A380,but questionmarks remain over the readiness of othersBy Charles AndersonWilly-Pierre Duponthas lostc ou nt of t h enumber of flightshe has taken inthe course of his working life. He estimatesit is more than 2,000, but therehas been little glamour in his travel onbehalf of Airbus. Often, the ToulousebasedFrenchman has not gone muchfurther than the airport at which helanded.Over the last 10 years, this veteranof the A380 development programme– he goes back to A3XX days– has spent much of his time makingsure the giant airplane he helped pioneercan be accommodated at airportsworldwide, either through the way itwas designed or via changes airportsneed to make.Airlines and airports told Airbusright from the start that its planned‘super jumbo’ had to fit into the shoesof a Boeing 747. It must be able to landand take off from the same stretchesof tarmac. Not only that, it could notexceed the dimensions of a “Code F”plane – the limit on size decreedby the International Civil AviationOrganisation (ICAO) and AirportsCouncil International (ACI) for the biggestcommercial airplanes that airports can currentlyhandle. And, as it has turned out, theydon’t come any bigger than the A380.On a more everyday level, there werepractical details to hammer out, fromground servicing requirements and gatewayaccess to basics such as how to get 555 passengersand the food they will eat on boardand what kind of vehicle is needed to tow a290-tonne plane into position.As director, infrastructure and environmentfor the A380 programme, Dupont hasWilly-Pierre Dupont, director, infrastructureand environment, for the A380 programme:a walking compendium on airportsplayed a major role in finding the answers.And with that number of visits under hisbelt, he is a walking compendium on whichairports will be ready for the A380 by thetime it is due to come their way.The Asia-Pacific region, with manyfacilities planned and built in the last 15years, comes out well, often with work onlyneeded on runway and taxiway shoulders,sometimes at terminal gateways and occasionallyon baggage carousels. Elsewhere,particularly in old-style facilities in theU.S, more major problems have needed tobe overcome and concerns have beenexpressed that some will not be readyon time.International airports in HongKong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur,Sydney, Kansai in Japan, Shanghai’sPudong and Guangzhou’s NewBaiyun air ports in China andBangkok’s new airport, will all beable to host the A380, said Dupont,running through the list.Tokyo Narita? The airside is fine,but the single runway is a drawback.Beijing? Upgrading in time for the2008 Olympics means five to sixgates will be available for it from thatyear on.Then there is the second tier ofJakarta, Auckland, Melbourne andBrisbane. They will all be able to handlethe A380 by 2010 or earlier, maybeeven Christchurch, Perth and Cairns.The only question mark seems to beover Manila.Elsewhere, ageing airports likeLondon Heathrow, John F. Kennedy(JFK) in New York and San Franciscohave incorporated A380 requirementsinto major revamps necessary to keepthem in the top flight of airports.Much of the work would have beendone even if its new plane hadn’t comealong, Airbus argues. The proportionneeded for A380 work alone is only a fractionof the overall cost, the company says.These airports, squeezed for landingslots as their capacity runs out and sometimesrestricted by curfews, were alsoswayed by the fact that larger planes cansolve the problem of how to bring in morepeople without increasing flight numbers.“The arrival of the A380 is as importantto JFK ... as the Boeing 747 was when it wasintroduced. There’s a huge economic benefitto seeing an aircraft like that in a marketlike ours,” Bill DeCota, aviation direc-JUNE - AUGUST 2005 ORIENT AVIATION / A380 Quarterly Update 17