Our A380 will be deployed on commercial service again as soon as possible,” Arabian Business quoted an airline official as saying.
… Dubai-based Emirates Airline has grounded its Airbus A380 plane, an online business news service reported.
Airlines, too, are looking to do their part, with Emirates saying it is scrubbing its cabin to contribute to the goal of reducing overall aircraft empty weight by 4-5 metric tons. … The engine enhancement and weight efforts are aimed at allowing the carrier to use the A380 more widely, with Emirates hoping it can stretch the aircraft range to allow flights to San Francisco with full passenger and freight loads.
Chief Executive Tom Enders of European aircraft maker Airbus said Wednesday the company would look at producing a longer version of the A380 aircraft if a sufficient number of clients asked it to.
Passengers flying on Emirates new Airbus A380 - to be delivered this autumn - will be able to take a hot shower mid-flight. … Emirates has yet to reveal the details of its A380 first-class cabin but has promised it will be even more extravagant than Singaopre Airlines’ cabin.
Apparently money can’t buy everything, as news broke that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s personal Airbus A380 “Flying Palace” will not feature an onboard swimming pool. An Airbus executive recently told jet trade publication Aviation International News, “You can forget about the swimming pool,” and that doing a few laps at 35,000 feet “can’t happen and won’t happen.”
Airbus secured net orders for 1,341 aircraft during 2007, giving the European manufacturer a 48.7% share of the market.
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.
Airbus has received validation in November 2007 for the external noise values of the A380 powered by Engine Alliance GP7200 engines from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). External noise certification is part of the process for the joint EASA and FAA type certification for the GP7200-powered A380, which is scheduled in December 2007.
The 12 A380 “Suites” seats will be on the main deck at the front of the aircraft and SIA’s spokesman says the carrier is not calling it first class as the new class “is in a league of its own” and will have a class code of ‘R’. He says business, or ‘J’ class, and economy, or ‘Y’ class, will be similar to the upgraded classes that it introduced on its new Boeing 777-300ERs late last year.
