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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 2723.PDF
the larger supplemental cargo carriers. Naturally, Boeing disputes most of Airbus's claims for the A380, although it concedes that the giant aircraft has the upper hand in cargo capacity and payload capability. "We think that the 747-400F will be 3-4% better in DOC per tonne," Boeing says, adding that Airbus is tradi tionally "very optimistic in predicting per formance of its aircraft". The 17 orders for the cargo A380 variant represent just under 20% of the total sales of 97 aircraft to date. This means that Airbus is on track with its long-term fore cast, which predicts a market for around 300 new large freighters (with a payload of more than 80t) over the next 20 years, which is about 20% of the European man ufacturer's forecast for the entire large- aircraft market. Boeing sees things differently. It is generally more pessimistic than Airbus in Emirates' two A380FS will operate trunk routes from a cargo hub in Dubai its predictions for long-term large-aircraft demand, putting the size of the 500-plus passenger market at 330 aircraft, compared to Airbus's forecast of 1,200 units. However, the US manufacturer is more optimistic on the cargo side, estimating demand for new freighters of 747 size and larger at 220 aircraft - much nearer to the Airbus estimate. Design effort Airbus says the freighter version has been central to the design effort for the A380 from the start. Marie-Ange Plancq, the European company's A380 senior market ing analyst, says a number of key cargo operators were involved in helping define the freighter as part of the A380 customer "workshops". She says: "Cargo airlines like Atlas Air and FedEx, as well as airlines with freight arms such as Air France, Emirates, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines, have CUSTOMERS EMIRATES been involved since 1996. It has been designed as a general cargo aircraft, not as an express packages carrier." One aspect of freighters developed from double-deck passenger airliners such as the 747 is the positioning of the cockpit on the upper deck to enable a nose cargo door to be installed. Although the 747's nose cargo door cannot accept maximum- height pallets (due to the lower ceiling at the front of the aircraft where the cockpit floor intrudes), it is useful for loading long items of cargo of up to 12m (39ft) that can not be loaded through the 747's side cargo door aft. Plancq says that a nose door was consid ered for the A380, but would have compro mised the position of the flightdeck (which is on a mezzanine level between the two passenger decks). "After weighing up the cost in weight and drag penalties, [ie cockpit position] it was decided we Staying in type MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / LONDON With firm orders for 22 aircraft and an additional 10 options, Emirates is the biggest customer to date for for the Airbus A380. Buried within that 32-aircraft commitment is an order for two A380-800 freighters, which, as it stands, are the first cargo aircraft to be ordered by the rapidly expanding United Arab Emirates carrier. The A380Fs are due for delivery in the second half of 2008. Ram Menen, director of cargo at Dubai-based Emirates, says it was the deci sion to buy the passenger A380 model that prompted the order for the freighter: "We realised that when we introduce the passenger aircraft, we will actually lose some belly cargo capacity relative to current types, so we ordered the freighter to boost capacity," he says. Because the two-passenger-deck A380 airliner uses a large part of its under- floor cargo hold for passenger baggage, just 14-15t of belly capacity will be available for freight, compared to around 20t on a Boeing 777, says Menen. "The A380's cargo capacity could be even lower if the aircraft has a higher-density seating layout," he adds. The belly cargo hold capacity of its passenger fleet is a vital consideration for Emirates - it accounts for 80% of the airline's cargo business. Emirates carried 400,000t of cargo in the year to March and expects the business to grow this year by 25-30%. Almost one-third of the cargo passing through its cargo hub origi nates or terminates in the Gulf. The remainder is "transcontinental", says Menen. The only dedicated freighter it operates is a Boeing 747-400F, which is wet- leased from Atlas Air for services to Amsterdam, Hong Kong and, beginning this month, Shanghai. Menen says the decision to acquire the A380F for its own fleet, rather than to lease it, was based on the fact that, unlike the 747, the type will be operated in the passenger fleet. "When we looked at the operating costs on a tonne/kilometre basis, it made sense," he adds. Menen says the deployment strategy for the A380F fleet is still in the early planning stages, but what is certain is that the aircraft will be operated on 'trunk cargo routes from Dubai to Europe and to the Far East". As part of the planning Emirates has started an evaluation of medium-sized widebody freighters to operate regional services in the Gulf to feed the A380 freighter hub in Dubai. "We are looking at all the candidates in the 50-85t capacity," says Menen. The size category that Emirates is evaluating includes freighters such as the Airbus A300-600R Boeing 767-300F and MD-11F Emirates is "pushing Boeing" to develop a freighter version of the 777-200ER, says Menen, and is also study ing the A330-200F - both types are in the airline's passenger fleet. Menen says the regional operation will complement the A380F fleet and should be in place to support the new 150t payload freighters when they arrive in six years' time. www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 10-16 SEPTEMBER 2002 35
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