China's - Orient Aviation

COVER STORYIN BRIEF• The second of the A380’s engine types togo into service, the Engine Alliance GP7200,was due to complete route proving at the endof October before type certification nextmonth. The Rolls-Royce Trent 900 completedthat process last December.Eight of the 11 A380 customers havechosen Rolls-Royce engines, but the EngineAlliance, a joint venture between GeneralElectric and Pratt & Whitney, has the biggestcustomer, Emirates Airline.• THE final hurdle in Airbus’s fightto gain acceptance by the world’s majorairports came in July when the EuropeanAviation Safety Agency (EASA) and theFederal Aviation Administration (FAA) gaveclearance for it to operate on runways witha width of 45 metres – the standard width atmost facilities worldwide.The aircraft, designed to fit into an80 metre by 80 metre box as required bymost airports, will have visited close to 60airports by the end of the year. Airbus saysA380 quotes‘Every 30 years there is a sea change in thisindustry: propellers to pistons, pistons toturboprops, turboprops to jets, jets to jumbo jetsand jumbo jets to super jumbos’John LeahyChief Operating OfficerCustomersmore than 70 will be able to take the superjumbo by 2011.• AIRBUS broke with its normal practiceby assembling the A380 in one place, eventhough its components are manufacturedelsewhere and interior furnishing iscompleted in Hamburg. Each A380 positiontakes up one hectare and with four of thoserequired, it made sense to opt for a single sitewith enough land available.• AIRBUS usually relies on its five-strongfleet of Belugas, converted A300-600s withaccess for cargo through a giant, expandednose, to transport components between itsEuropean assembly sites. The A380’s wingand fuselage systems proved too big for thatmethod and the company commissioned theroll-on, roll-off Ville De Bordeaux fromNanjing in China.The giant cargo ship has 6,720 sq. metresof hold space and plies between Mostyn nearBroughton, Hamburg, Saint-Nazaire andCadiz, delivering its final load to Pauillac atthe mouth of the River Garonne, northwest ofBordeaux. From there barge and road convoyare used for the journey to Toulouse. 28 ORIENT AVIATION NOVEMBER 2007