Airbus A380 ready for Asian Aerospace Show 2006

Test plane A380 MSN004 to perform daily flying displays at Singapore air show

BY A CORRESPONDENT
February 18, 2006

Airbus A380, the biggest passenger plane for civil aviation yet, is ready to fly to the Asian Aerospace Show 2006 in Singapore's Changi. The superjumbo has successfully completed cold weather tests in Iqaluit, Canada. The aircraft has already received 159 orders from 16 customers worldwide.

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At the Singapore Air Show, the Airbus 380 will perform daily flying displays. The Airbus 380 is still to enter active service among the world's airlines. At the Singapore Airshow, the A380 will don the Singapore Airlines livery.

Several leading airlines are awaiting deliveries of the Airbus 380, including Emirates, Singapore Airlines and India's Kingfisher Airlines. Airbus 380 delivery has already been delayed.

The Airbus A380 is still undergoing a variety of tests. Recently, the cold weather tests were conducted to check if all the systems work perfectly under extreme cold conditions.

Said Claude Lelaie, Senior Vice President, Flight Division: "Certification is a continuing process. "The current routine is two flights a day on each aircraft, six days a week, in addition to the big test campaigns. We are happy with the Airbus A380 performance during the test campaigns so far."

The Airbus 380 MSN004 spent five days in chilling cold up to -30 degrees Celsius. The trials included powering up the aircraft, the engines and hydraulic systems after a full 12-hour period at such low temperatures. The aircraft batteries were removed overnight and stored in a warm area. The next morning, batteries were reinstalled onboard the aircraft for the tests. While the A380 was flying back after successful cold weather testing it also carried out polar navigation tests.

Before the cold weather tests, Airbus also conducted high-altitude testing to check for full functionality of the Airbus A380 in high-altitude airfields. The tests were conducted at Columbia's Medellin at a height of 5000 feet.

Two Airbus 380 test aircraft MSN001 and MSN004 are undergoing tests with heavy test equipment. The third test plane MSN002 is getting cabins done at Hamburg. They will soon be joined by another test A380, the MSN007.

The full A380 test programme represents more than 2,500 flight hours. Upon completion of the certification process, the world’s largest commercial airliner will be delivered to the first operator Singapore Airlines in late 2006.