David Kaminski-Morrow: July 2008 Archives

Seems AirAsia isn't prepared to let the new Emirates A380 model at London Heathrow steal all the glory. These pictures show a 12.5m-long replica of one of its A320s, 9M-AFF, being hoisted into position above the AirAsia Academy in Kuala Lumpur.

It's the same scale, one-third, as the Emirates model, although much lighter at 1.5 tonnes. AirAsia says it's being installed as part of an expansion for the academy which will have a new look in August.

The model, built by California-based Penwal Industries, arrived in an Antonov An-124 freighter operated by Russia's Polet in early July. The missing 'm' and 't' from the 'Emirates' logo (these letters will be added later) mark the location where the nose section joins the fuselage barrel - a join which, to me, looks like it needs to be straightened.

Once completed - the engines still need attaching - the aircraft will occupy the prominent position north of runway 09L/27R which, for several years, was the site of a one-third scale British Airways Concorde model before the carrier chose to withdraw the advertising budget, and Emirates decided to move in.

Emirates will take delivery of its first A380 on 28 July, an event which Flight will be covering from Hamburg and Dubai. It will put the aircraft into service on 1 August. The model will be 'operational' once it is formally unveiled on 23 July.