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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 2722.PDF
Cover story HICH HOPES The A380 freighter looks great on paper, but can Airbus really build an aircraft on time and on budget that lives up to its promise? MAX KINGSLEY-JONES & MICHAEL PHELAN / LONDON If the sales literature is to be believed, Airbus has created the world's greatest cargo aircraft with the A380-800 freighter. It has 29% more range and 33% greater payload than the current industry standard, the Boeing 747-400F, and a direct operating cost (DOC) per tonne that is 20-30% lower. "It is the industry's new benchmark," says Airbus. Emirates, the first customer to order the A380 freighter, says the decision to buy the aircraft was partly due to its strong eco nomics. FedEx Express, the other airline customer, sees the 150,000kg (339,4001b) payload aircraft as an ideal bulk carrier to ply trunk cargo routes from its regional hubs in Europe and Asia to its main US hub in Memphis, Tennessee. The other A380F customer, International Lease Finance, ordered the cargo model seeing opportunities to place the aircraft on oper ating lease with existing A380 customers or FLIGHT IIUI.IIIIII.fH TIM BROWN 2002 34 10-16 SEPTEMBER 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.fliqhtinternational.com
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