A PERFECT - Orient Aviation

AIRPORTStor for JFK’s operating company, told journalistslast year.On the day Orient Aviation met Dupont,he heard that authorities in Los Angeles hadfinally agreed to an US$11 billion expansionthat will allow it to handle the A380. Thego-ahead came in the nick of time. QantasAirways plans to fly there in late 2006. AirFrance, Korean Air, Lufthansa, SingaporeAirlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways arelikely to follow suit soon after.There has been some controversy in theU.S., however, over other airports, such asAtlanta, deciding against making alterationsnecessary to take the plane. Dupontshrugs this off.Some 80% of U.S. B747 movementsare handled by airports that are moving toaccommodate the A380. Others, such asAtlanta, have no airline interested in operatingthe new jumbo there, so the businesscase does not exist. And, if that changed,such airports could move quickly, he said,citing the comparatively short time it istaking Auckland to upgrade. The NewZealand airport was prompted to do sowhen Emirates told authorities it wanted toland the A380 there. Qantas and SingaporeAirlines are expected to fly the A380 intoAuckland as well.Vancouver is now planning the necessaryfacilities, even though no A380 customerhas said it wants access. But witha large Chinese community, and ChinaSouthern Airlines a new A380 customer, itis betting a Mainland carrier, or an airlineserving Hong Kong, will come on board.Toronto has made the same decision.The Asian influence is an importantone, it seems, especially in cities like LosAngeles and San Francisco. “We have ahuge Asian market and we see the A380as a growth area to the Asian market,” SanFrancisco spokesman, Tony Ciavolella, toldAssociated Press.Globally, some 10 airports a year will beadded to the list of those upgrading to takethe A380 between now and 2010. Thosecoming on stream later than 2006 will neverthelessbe in time for airlines whose deliveriesare also further down the track.If all this sounds haphazard, that is onlybecause so many different organisationshave been involved. Airbus hascarried out consultations withmore than 60 airports in the lastdecade, listening to their needsand taking them back to theA380’s designers.China Southern Airlines could beVancouver International Airport’sfirst A380 customerIt had to. Without this cornerstone of thecompany’s campaign, widespread acceptanceof the aircraft would have not beenpossible.Later came multi-carrier meetings atthe airports the A380 will serve to makesure the necessary infrastructure will bein place, both airside and in the terminals,when it goes into service.Airport requirements proved to be fundamentalright from the start. At the topleveldesign of the aircraft, ICAO and ACIrestrictions meant, in effect, that the A380had to be a double-decker. There was noother way to carry the number of passengersAirbus and the airlines required.There were other considerations linkedto airport operations. The height of its tailplane section could not exceed the 80 feet(26 metres) maximum so it could fit intodocking facilities at airports designed totake Code F planes. Its gearing track wasfinalised at only slightly more than theB747-400, allowing operations from existingrunways with a 45-metre width and23-metre-wide taxiways. A comparativelyshort gear base gives a turning radius in linewith the A340-600 and B777-300ER.With take-off and landing distancesless than a B747, no major airport neededto increase its runways for the A380 alone,although runway shoulders have requiredattention in many instances. Later, newnoise limits imposed by London Heathrowmeant a fast re-think on engine design.Weight concerns require airport bridges,overpasses and underpasses to be checked,‘The arrival of the A380 is as important to JFK ...as the Boeing 747 was when it was introduced.’Bill DeCotaAviation director, John F. Kennedy International Airportbut the A380’s 20 landing gear wheels, asopposed to the B747’s 16, distribute the loadon general apron areas more evenly, so itexerts less pressure than the B777, A340-600 or MD-11.• When it came to ground operations,door heights and ground connection pointsfor items like power units were kept in linewith existing positionings. Most servicinggoes through the A380’s main deck,so many current airport vehicles can stillbe used.When it comes to getting bums on andoff seats, the design requirement was toachieve a 90-minute turnaround using twodoors on the main deck, about the same asfor a B747.Airbus claims it has done this throughimproving the cabin architecture and reducingbottlenecks, allowing passengers toaccess the upper deck via stairs reachedfrom the first door. Catering access to theupper deck is needed to hit the target, however.Upper deck boarding for passengers,the company says, is not an operationalnecessity, more a question of product differentiationfor airlines and airports. Maybeso, but 10 airports are planning to use twomain deck bridges and one upper deck.Nine others will provide one main and oneupper. Nine more have still to make up theirminds.With some airlines saying they are likelyto turn over the upper deck almost exclusivelyto business and first class sectors,it makes sense for them to allow premiumcustomers direct access to theirseats.Maybe Willy-Pierre Dupontwill be one of them. After 2,000flights, he deserves to skip thestairs.JUNE - AUGUST 2005 ORIENT AVIATION / A380 Quarterly Update 18