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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 0050.PDF
AUiUJJSS AT THIRTY Stretching the Airbus is throwing down the gauntlet with the latest record- breaking arrival in the A340 family, the -500/-600 models very limits The A340-600 prototype was recently rolled out in Toulouse with its four R-R Trent 500s installed. Ground tests are under way ahead of its May first flight JULIAN MOXON/TOULOUSE EVEN SEASONED onlookers caught their breath when the newest Airbus emerged from the Clement Ader factory in Toulouse on 20 September. The A3 40-600 is the longest commercial aircraft ever built - and, with the four Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines still to be attached at that time, it looked every millimetre of its 74.8m (245ft) overall length. The 3 80-seat A3 40-600 is the first of the two stretched, re-engined variants of the original A340-300 which entered service in March 1993. By Airbus standards to date, the -600 is a monster and is the first product from the consortium which - in terms of seating capacity - competes directly with the Boeing 747. Only the A3 80 will be larger. When it enters service in early 2006, it will take Airbus beyond the 747 into a totally new marketing domain. In terms of development, first flight and delivery, the -600 leads its smaller, longer-range sister, the 313-seat A340-500, by about seven months. The first of 10 -600s ordered by Virgin Atlantic is due for delivery in June 2002, and the first of five -500s will go to Air Canada in November 2002. Orders for the two aircraft stand at 71, from 10 customers, with a further 53 commitments. While business was slow in 2 000 with just eight orders booked, A330/A340 family product manager Alan Pardoe remains bullish about the prospects for the pair, which he says offer "new standards of comfort and flexibility for passengers". He adds: "With the A340-600 we have a 747-400 category aircraft with 15% lower trip costs and double the cargo capacity, and with the A3 40-5 00 we have a direct competitor to the Boeing 777-200LR, an ultra-long-range aircraft capable of flying between Singapore and Los Angeles non-stop." For Emirates managing director Maurice Flanegan, the arrival of the A3 40-500 opens up new possibilities: "With this aircraft, we're going global," he says. "No other aircraft has its range, and we intend to take full advantage of that." Flying to New York in the first instance, the -500 will be operated to South America and Australia, and on "any routes where it makes money", he says. While the two new types earn plenty of superlatives, Airbus Industrie is perhaps more ni^lbftUlilriiliKriili Customer Aerolineas Argentinas Air Canada Egyptair Emirates Flightlease (Swissair) ILFC Lufthansa Singapore Airlines Virgin Atlantic Unannounced Total •:.••::.,::o.« Model 600 500/600 600 500 600 500/600 600 500 600 500/600 Orders 6 5 2 6 9 13 10 5 10 5 71 48 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 2 - 8 January 2001
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