Preparations for introducint the A380 are providing a major challenge for airlines, airports and manufacturing companies.
When the A380 starts earning money for its operators in three years' time, its sheer size will provide unique opportunities for airline marketeers as they take advantage of numerous options such as aircraft configuration and passenger handling.
Virgin Atlantic will be the second airline to inaugurate A380 services after launch customer Singapore Airlines (SIA), and is due to receive the first two of six aircraft on order in July 2006. Two more will follow in 2007 and the final pair in 2008. The A380s will be based at Virgin's London Heathrow hub.
Willy Boulter, Virgin's director of commercial planning and strategy, says the airline has acquired the A380 more for its high capacity at slot-constrained airports and promised low seat/km costs than for its range. "Our initial destinations are likely to be New York Kennedy and Los Angeles," he says, with Washington Dulles and San Francisco following in year two. "We'll also look to Asia in the second year, which has slot-constrained airports such as Tokyo Narita. South Africa is a potential destination in year three," he adds.
Boulter says that Virgin's A380s will be equipped with "with upwards of 500 seats". Airbus quotes 555-seats as the standard three-class configuration, but says it expects most A380 operators will install "between 520 and 540 seats".
To ensure a smooth introduction of the aircraft, Virgin formed a dedicated A380 project management team a year ago headed by one of its marketing executives, Rachel Elson. Representatives from every area of the company - airport planning, cabin safety, commercial, engineering, flight crew, interior design, operations and product marketing - meet with the project team on a weekly and monthly basis and provide input to Airbus through the customer focus groups.
Airbus and suppliers have set aggressive schedules on decision milestones. "If Airbus had its way we would be choosing the seats now," says Virgin's head of product Dee Cooper, adding that the final decision on configuration and any innovations that Virgin wants must be made within the next 12 months.
While Airbus has promoted various novel ideas for the A380, such as a duty-free shopping area, library and showers, Virgin's head of design Joe Ferry says that the choice of on-board innovations ultimately "all comes down to money. We only have six aircraft so we have to look at costs and the possibility of sharing them with other customers." Another constraint is that any new products introduced on the A380 must be applicable across the whole Virgin fleet, comprising Airbus A340s and Boeing 747-400s.
Ground-handling is another area where the A380 potentially provides a major challenge. Airbus has been leading the initiative with the airports and has held regular dialogue with them since it first began serious ultra-large aircraft studies in 1994.
The A380 was designed from the start to fit within the much vaunted 80m (262ft) box, which meets airport compatibility recommendations. Discussions began with certain airports about accommodating the A380 immediately after the first orders were signed. Charles Champion, A380 programme executive vice-president, says the key areas considered were: the effect of the A380's 79.6m wingspan, which is 15m more than the 747, the airports' previously quoted maximum; separation distances between runways and taxiways; the effect of weight on bridges; and the impact on terminals of the A380's passenger capacity and size.
A joint team, the A380 Airport Compatibility Group (AACG) - comprising Airbus, Airports Council International, IATA and several airport authorities and regulatory authorities - is working together to ensure a smooth service entry. Airbus has surveyed 84 airports worldwide and has identified "likely early airports" for A380 operations. It has prioritised these according to estimates of when they will handle their first A380s.
At the top of the list is London Heathrow, which is Virgin's hub. During the first year of operations this airport will also handle A380s of at least three other airlines - Emirates, Qantas and SIA. Airbus predicts that Heathrow will be second only to Japan's Tokyo Narita in the number of A380s it handles through to 2019.
Although Heathrow's new Terminal 5 (T5) development will have 10 A380-compatible stands with two-level jetties, and four remote parking spaces, this is not due to open until two years after the A380 enters service. To ensure that it is ready when A380 operations start, the airport's operator BAA is investing £400 million ($640 million) on modifications to airfield and terminal infrastructure over the next five years.
The existing long-haul terminals, T3 and T4, will be modified to allow them to handle the A380 from 2006. To cope with the increased passenger flow, T3 will also have a new check-in area and larger arrivals hall with bigger baggage reclaim belts. A larger customs hall is due to open at the end of 2006.
T3, where Virgin is based along with Emirates and SIA, will receive the bulk of the work. One of the existing piers (number six) is being redeveloped to give it four A380 stands, each with two jetties, one of which will be capable of docking to either the main or upper deck, with provision for a third jetty. T3 will also have a remote parking stand, and by 2008 it should have up to four more jetty stands. BAA says that plans for T4, from which Qantas operates, have not been finalised. Flight International understands T4 will initially have one A380 stand.
Florian Preuss, Virgin's A380 project manager airport and route liaison, says Virgin has been working closely with Heathrow on introducing the A380. He says the airline is aiming to keep turnaround times in line with the 2.5h it allows for its 747-400s. Full analysis of passenger flows during boarding and de-boarding is about to begin, but Preuss says that it is clear that two-level loading will be quicker: "Ideally, we don't want to have 200 people trudging up and down stairs."
Reconstruction of Heathrow's main south taxiways to widen and reposition them has already begun to ensure that there is sufficient separation for A380s to manoeuvre between stands and the southern runway, 27L/09R. However work to allow A380 operations on the northern runway, 27R/09L, will not be completed until 2008.
Preuss says that it is a concern that Heathrow "will initially have only one A380-compatible runway", but BAA says that there are contingency plans to use the northern runway for the A380 if an emergency closes the southern one. Preuss says that the nearest A380-compatible alternatives are East Midlands or Manchester.
The A380 is classed as a Code F aircraft in terms of runway compatibility, which lays out detailed criteria on runway/taxi way separation, runway exit sizes and load bearing rating. As a result, reconstruction of the taxiway access to Heathrow's north 27R/09L runway, which is physically too tight for the A380, will be needed before it is approved for use.
Code F requires a taxiway width of 25m with 17.5m wide shoulders. The AACG has an agreement to enable some airports to circumnavigate the Code F requirement through waivers, which allows the existing Code E/747 compatible 23m wide taxiway width to be maintained, with increased shoulder width.
New York Kennedy has finalised its A380 master plan and has submitted its Modification of Standards (MoS) package for review by the US Federal Aviation Administration. "We are quite confident Kennedy will be well prepared," says Preuss.
Los Angeles International Airport is set to be another early A380 destination for Virgin, Qantas, SIA and possibly Emirates. It has only just finalised its MoS package, however, and there are currently some concerns about whether its runways and terminals will be adequately prepared in time. By contrast, the other early US A380 airports, San Francisco International and Miami International, have submitted their MoS packages for FAA evaluation.
Airbus says that of the remaining "early A380 airports", Sydney Kingsford-Smith has updated its master plan to include more gates and upper deck jetties. The airside upgrade of Paris Charles de Gaulle has already begun and the requirements for terminal work are being studied.
According to Champion, the other early A380 airports - Dubai, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo Narita and Singapore Changi - are preparing for the arrival of the giant "without major issue".
Dubai International Airport, home to the largest A380 customer Emirates, is undergoing a $2.5 billion expansion programme, which will see it fully prepared to handle the new Airbus from 2006. A new terminal, for Emirates' exclusive use, is being built with two concourses that will open in 2006 and 2007. These will have 23 A380-compatible stands, all equipped with two-level jetties.
Emirates chief director (airline) Tim Clark says the carrier has taken advantage of the all-new facilities to come up with a novel plan to utilise the A380's unique configuration for its premium products. "The upper deck will be configured entirely with premium [business and first class] cabins," he says. The new concourses will have all their premium lounges on the top floor, enabling first and business passengers to board directly to the upper deck of the aircraft, says Clark.
Efforts are already under way to ensure there is a co-ordinated approach to maintenance and support of the A380 from the moment it enters service. Jean-DanielLeroy, vice-president of Airbus customer support and services, says "now is the time" to start planning for the A380's future needs and the manufacturer is taking the opportunity to look at its whole customer support structure and policy.
Leroy says Airbus will meet with each of the A380 launch customers individually in the coming months to understand their individual needs, By August, it is planning to hold a meeting of all the launch customers' senior management to encourage dialogue on the aircraft's support requirements. Various synergies will be examined such as spares pooling and maintenance joint ventures.
"Details of our plans will become available next year, when we have got feedback from our customers, vendors, maintenance providers, etc.," says Leroy.
Reliability
Airbus is targeting a dispatch reliability level of 99% for the A380 at entry-into-service, and has developed a rigorous analytical approach to improving maintainability in the run-up to operations.
"The ultimate goal is to make sure we meet 100% of customer expectations," says head of maturity and maintenance Thierry Herault. Procedures for the removal of the body-mounted main landing gear, for instance, have been developed by Airbus in conjunction with the airline customer focus group. The complete cycle, using one minilift, will take 18h. The group also had critical influences on areas such as improving access to the waste tank, section 19 (rear fuselage), radar and air generation units.
The sheer size of the A380 means special safety harness connections have to be provided for maintenance staff. The radome, for example, sits 8m above the ground while the top of the fin reaches to 24m. As most airport "cherry pickers" only reach to 15m, Airbus has put all major inspection areas on the fin at heights below this.
Overall planning for the A380's upkeep is being undertaken by a joint Maintenance Review Board (MRB) which involves industry, customers and regulatory bodies. Overall targets for base maintenance (A check) intervals are 750 flight hours per 1.5 month, light maintenance (C check) 24 months, and intermediate/major heavy maintenance (D check) intervals at 72 and 144 months respectively. "Right now we're targeting an interval of six and 12 years compared with five and 10 years up to now," says Herault.
The MRB process will last from 2003 to 2005, with most activity taking place in 2005 towards the run-up to entry-into-service in 2006. Estimated direct maintenance costs will be just under $1,400/h, or around $50/h more than the 747-400. "But the overhaul costs will still be 24%/seat lower than the 747," adds Herault.
| A380 customers | |||||
| Customers | Orders | Options | Total | Engine | First delivery |
| Air France | 10 | 10 | 20 | EA | Nov 2006 |
| Emirates | *22 | 10 | 32 | EA | Oct 2006 |
| FedEx | **10 | 10 | 20 | EA | Aug 2008 |
| ILFC | ***10 | 10 | 20 | N/A | June 2007 |
| Lufthansa | 15 | 15 | 30 | RR | Sept 2007 |
| Malaysia Airlines | 6 | - | 6 | N/A | 2007 |
| Qantas | 12 | 12 | 24 | RR | Nov 2006 |
| Qatar Airways | 2 | 2 | 4 | N/A | 2008 |
| Singapore Airlines | 10 | 15 | 25 | RR | March 2006 |
| Virgin Atlantic | 6 | 6 | 12 | RR | July 2006 |
| Total | 103 | 90 | 193 | ||
| Notes: *including two freighters **all freighters ***including five freighters Malaysia Airlines and Qatar Airways orders not subject to firm contract | |||||
Source: Flight International
