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Aviation History
1990
1990 - 3019.PDF
COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT OF THE WORLD Airbus Industrie A340-200 certificated the A300-600R for 361 passen gers in an all-economy layout, the largest number of passengers approved on a twin- engine type. Deutsche Airbus has demon strated the evacuation of the 361 passengers and 14 crew within 90s, using only half of the aircraft's exits. Monarch Airlines, the British charter carrier, based at Luton, England, is the first operator of the type in this configuration, its first aircraft entering service in March 1990. The airline has three more A300-600Rs on order. New orders include: A300-600R: Ameri can Airlines (1), China Airlines (1), Fosh- ing (4), Japan Fle'et Service-Singapore (4), Thai Airways International (5). A310: Air Afrique (4), Emirates (3), Hapag Lloyd (1), Iraqi Airways (5), Royal Thai Air Force (1), Singapore Airlines (1), Tarom (3), TEA (1). Production status: A300 total orders 407, delivered 332; -600, total orders 156, deliv ered 80. A310 total orders 250, delivered 176; -300, total orders 148, delivered 87. A320 Airbus has introduced a second sta tion for joining wings and fuselages on the final-assembly line, which will allow A320 production to increase to 12 aircraft a month. The company expects to recover the delayed, deliveries caused by industrial dis putes and to be able to offer earlier delivery dates by the end of 1991. Operational reliability of A320s was re ported to be close to 98% by April 1990, allowing the .12 operators high punctuality rates with the 102 aircraft in airline service. British Airways achieved an operational dispatch reliability of 99.6% in March this year, said to be the best of any new type. Air Inter and Lufthansa reliability for the same period was 99.1% and 93.3% respec tively. Since it entered service in 1988, the type has carried almost 10 million passengers in 116,860 flying hours and 100,600 revenue earning flights. The highest operational usage is with Northwest Airlines, flying its A320s for 9h 49min in an average four flights daily. Recent orders include: Air Lanka (1), Conair (6), Foshing (2), Lufthansa (3), Mexicana (16), Royal Jordanian (1), Tunis Air (1). Production status: Total orders 593,'deliv- ered 106. Production rate 12 a month. A321 The Airbus A321 is a stretched version of the successful A320 standard- body aircraft. It will have higher operating weights, 7m-longer fuselage and will carry 186 passengers in a two-class layout, 36 more passengers than the earlier A3 20. According to Airbus, static testing of the A320 fuselage shows that very little modifi cation will be needed to meet the strength requirements for the A321. Aeritalia has joined the A321 programme and is to design and build the 4.3m-long, 4m-diameter front fuselage plug. British Aerospace will provide the rear plug. Final assembly and installation of the passenger interiors of A321s will be carried out by Deutsche Airbus at its Hamburg factory, starting in 1992. Deliveries are due to begin early in 1994. This resolves an earlier disagreement between partners over Germany's workshare and follows the group agreement to com bine final assembly and passenger interior fitting out of new types on one site. A300-600, A310 and A320 types will con tinue to be assembled at Toulouse, with the fitting of interiors being carried out by Deutsche Airbus at Hamburg as at present. Airbus claims that ten customers have made commitments for 110 A3 21 aircraft and placed options on 75 more. Orders include: Alitalia (20), Ansett (10), Iberia (8), ILFC (12), Lufthansa (20) and 12 aircraft for unannounced customers. Production status: Total orders 112. A330/A340 The Colomiers assembly build ing is almost complete, ready to start assembling the first A340 later this year. The two aircraft, launched as a joint pro gramme in 1987, are intended to share the' greatest possible commonality of parts, using the same fuselage cross-section, em-' pennage, systems and wing, wilfh two or four engines. Deutsche Airbus completed the first 14.9m-long front fuselage shell at Hamburg in February 1990 and is fitting electric and hydraulic systems. Two further sections are well advanced. These will be flown by Super Guppy to Aerospatiale's St Nazaire factory where they will be joined to the nose sections, the combined parts then being flown to Toulouse. The first set of A340 wings has been delivered by British Aero space and -the second set is out of the jigs at the company's Chester factory. Of the two types, the A340 is to fly first in 1991 with the A330 following a year later. First A340 deliveries are expected in the second half of 1992 and A330s in 1993. Customer airlines have been reviewing maintenance procedures with Airbus Indus trie at the Aerospatiale factory at Toulouse, using a full-scale mockup of the front fuselage. Because of the commonality be tween the two types, this is the first time Airbus has been able to review two aircraft types at once. A330 Due to enter airline service late in 1993, this medium- to long-range twin- engined aircraft has had its range increased by 350km to 8,800km (4,750nm). To achieve this, maximum take-off weight is increased by 4t to 212t, allowing the aircraft to carry additional fuel. Higher-thrust ver sions of the engines offered will provide power in the 303kN (67,5001b) range. Customers have a choice of engines from three major manufacturers. Powerplants of fered are the General Electric CF6-80E1, Pratt & Whitney PW4000 and Rolls-Royce Trent. Following flight-testing of GE's CF6- 80E1 in 1991, Pratt & Whitney's PW4164/ PW4168 will begin 40h of flight-testing on the same Airbus Industrie A300 testbed airframe from Toulouse in mid-1992, lead ing to certification. Airbus is already planning A330 deriva tives, starting with an increase in take-off weight and thrust, plus 1,570km of extra range and.a typical 335-passenger load in two-class layout. Passenger capacity may be increased by 50 seats either by a conventional fuselage stretch of 8.5m, or by providing a second passenger deck within the same fuselage cross-section. A longer-range version is also being considered, depending upon market re quirements. Twelve customers have given firm orders for the A330, including: Air Inter (15), Cathay Pacific (10), Continental Airlines (13), Euralair (2), Garuda (9), GPA (10), ILFC (6), LTU (3), Lufthansa (8), North west Airlines (16), Thai Airways Interna tional (8), Trans World Airlines (20) and one for an unannounced customer. Production status: Total orders 121. A340 This very-long-range, four-engined N aircraft will have the longest unrefuelled range of any airliner when it enters service in 1992. The possibility of 12-14h flights raises ne>tf: concerns about the comfort and physi- cafvwell-being of both passengers and crews. Using part of the lower deck as a passenger lounge or for sleeping accommo dation is being considered, as is a formal dining area or even a gymnasium. Growth potential of the A340-200, cur rently designed for 262 passengers in three- FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 3 - 9 October, 1990 51
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