Aircraft

Airbus may still be only in the early stages of the development of its first A380 model, the baseline -800 passenger variant, but the production effort for the next member, the -800 Freighter, is well advanced and pressure is increasing from customers for growth models. While some airlines – most notably Emirates – have been longstanding proponents of the proposed 650-seat “A380-900” stretch, others want Airbus to find some more range from the basic 550-seater version, the so-called “-800R”.

The Freighter, which enters service in 2008, is a growth development with strengthened structure, increased used of advanced materials such as aluminium-lithium and increased weights (maximum take-off weights are 590t and 600t – up to 31t greater than the -800). The Freighter’s structural standard would be used as the basis for the next growth model, says head of the A380 programme Charles Champion. “We would not go to such a development until we’ve completed the Freighter, so it is not likely [to enter service] before 2012. I don’t know which version will be first.”

The key structural changes on the - 800F is the adoption of a stronger “high-strain” class of Glare material for the fuselage panels in the forward and aft sections, while aluminium-lithium replaces the standard aluminium panels in the centre section. Overall, Airbus aims to increase the use of aluminium-lithium from the current 2t on the -800 passenger model to 10t on the freighter.

Champion says that Airbus will also look at opportunities to introduce new engine technology that is being developed for the General Electric GEnx and Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 series engines: “We will ask the engine manufacturers what they could put on a future A380,” he says.