Aircraft

A development Airbus A380 aircraft used for cabin and cargo systems tests has returned to Toulouse from Hamburg in preparation for a series of pre-certification trial long range test flights.

The aircraft (manufacturer's serial number 002, pictured below) was outfitted at the manufacturer's Finkenwerder facility earlier this year with an airline-style 474-seat cabin layout. The aircraft was then used for a 5h static 'virtual flight' cabin systems test, in which all galley, in-flight entertainment and infrastructure systems were tested.

The aircraft (F-WXXL), which will eventually be reworked for delivery to Etihad Airways of the United Arab Emirates, is likely to be deployed from Toulouse in the coming weeks for 'early long flights,' aimed to test systems in flight. In the early long flights, MSN002 will make a series of round trip flights from Toulouse lasting up to 12h on as-yet undisclosed routeings. The early long flights will use Airbus employees as passengers.

Airbus introduced the early long flight concept with the A340-600 in 2001 in a bid to provide early feedback on cabin systems ahead of the route-proving tests required for full certification. MSN007, currently in Hamburg Finkenwerder for cabin installation, will carry out the A380 route-proving programme scheduled for the third quarter.