Category: A380

A380 showcase in India, Japan, Taiwan and Australia

Airbus is to showcase its A380 in Tokyo, Sydney and Taipei following its forthcoming visit to the Indian cities of Delhi and Mumbai.

Between 7 and 10 May the A380 will make its Indian debut, visiting a string of carriers including current prospects Jet Airways and Air India. Carcaillet indicates that this is more than a tentative visit. Kingfisher Airlines is Airbus’ only Indian A380 customer, with five A380-800s on firm order.

Carcaillet says that the aircraft will return from India and, following a planned appearance in Paris, will fly to Tokyo in June. From Japan it will fly on to Sydney, returning via Taipei to visit China Airlines.

Airbus chief operating officer for customers John Leahy says: “Over the next 9-12 months several trips around the world are planned to showcase the A380 to difference airlines.”

Source: Flightglobal

Airbus starts painting first A380 for Singapore Airlines

Following timely completion of the cabin installation of the first A380 for Singapore Airlines, Airbus has started the paintwork on this aircraft. The A380 will stay about three weeks in the company’s paint-shop in Hamburg/Germany. In addition to the actual painting, most of the other work in the paint-shop is cleaning, grinding, masking and unmasking the 3,100 square metres of surface of the A380.

About 3,600 liters of chromate-free paint is used for three layers of paint (primer, customer-paint, top-coat) for an A380. Only 600 to 1,000 kg of paint stays on the aircraft. Each layer is only measuring about 0.120 mm and is able to withstand differences in temperatures of about 100 degrees Celsius.

Airbus is applying the most modern and environmental friendly techniques for the A380 painting process. Electrostatic pistols are used to minimize paint mist. Used air is cleaned and washed through a multi-stage cleaning process to ensure that paint particles are disposed separately.

A380 launch customer Singapore Airlines is to take delivery of its first A380 in October this year.

Singapore Airlines New Cabin Design

Since Airbus announced yesterday the cabin furnishing for the first Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 is completed, you might be interested in seeing this newly designed cabin.

UPDATE: Visit SIA A380 Cabin Interior Revealed – Pictures

Unfortunately there are no photos out yet, but I found a page featuring the new cabin design concept.

Link: http://www.dexigner.com/design_news/7984/

Cabin Furnishing For First Singapore Airlines A380 Completed

Cabin furnishing of the first production A380 was completed in early April and is being tested prior to final delivery to Singapore Airlines.

The first production A380 – MSN003- due to enter service with Singapore Airlines later this year, reached the end of the cabin systems test phase on 4 April. Installation of the aircraft’s cabin at the A380 final assembly line in Hamburg was finished on 21 March and since then Airbus’ engineers and systems specialists have been performing a range of tests on the newly installed systems to check that they are working as expected.

The A380 programme team has been working with Singapore’s three on-site representatives throughout cabin furnishing to ensure that they are closely involved in decisions at every stage. And from 5 to 10 April, 30 representatives of Singapore Airlines including senior management are visiting the FAL to gain a comprehensive overview of the aircraft and its cabin systems as part of the customer pre-acceptance phase.

This phase of production has run very smoothly and, while details of the cabin remain secret, those working on the FAL are excited by the results achieved. “We are entering a new world of cabin furnishing,” said Peter Hahn head of the A380 FAL in Hamburg. “This cabin interior looks fantastic and brings a brand new dimension to the onboard experience that Singapore Airlines can offer its passengers.”

Once the pre-acceptance phase has been completed, the aircraft will be painted in the Singapore livery and undergo more systems analysis on the ground before its cabin first flight in the summer to test cabin system performance in the air.

Source: airbus.com