Airbus’s hoped-for relaxation in the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s recommended separation distances for the A380 has been delayed because the manufacturer has only just completed in-flight wake-vortex trials.

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Following ICAO’s recommendations in October 2006 that the distance between the A380 and other aircraft should be larger than the standard for other large or “heavy” category aircraft, the airframer has been undertaking extensive back-to-back flight trials with the A380 and other aircraft to prove the advice was too conservative.