Aircraft

A380 join-up production process put on hold

Assembly of A380 subassemblies in Toulouse is on hold as the manufacturer battles to overcome the issues that have caused the delays. Thirteen A380s have been assembled (excluding the ground test airframes), of which five have flown, including the first customer aircraft, for Singapore Airlines (SIA). Of the other eight assembled aircraft, one is the Engine Alliance GP7200 flight-test aircraft awaiting the start of that version’s test programme, another is the second SIA aircraft awaiting handover to flight test for ferry to Hamburg for outfitting, and the other six are customer aircraft for SIA (four), Emirates (one) and Qantas (one) that are undergoing pre-equipping.

The Toulouse A380 final-assembly line had been gearing up to assemble four a month, but vice-president A380 customer programme Chris Stonehouse says the last time an aircraft underwent the assembly join-up process was around eight weeks ago. With major fuselage components for the next two aircraft and the wings for the next three aircraft in the hangar, assembly is on hold as working parties address wiring problems on the assembled aircraft and the fuselage sections.