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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 2847.PDF
as a maximum. Length, at 72.7m, is less than the 747 or the A340-600 and 777-300. Undercarriage footprint width is 3m wider than the 747's, and Airbus concedes that a few airports may have to add filleting to taxiway corners, but says this will already have been done by any airport that oper ates the 777-300. Pavement loading is lower than the Boeing 747's because there are more wheels, but airports with taxiways or runways that bridge tunnels must review the weight-bearing capacity of the bridging. Take-off and landing distances are about 1,700ft (518m) less than the 747's. Airbus makes it sound as though airports need do virtually nothing to prepare for the new ULA, but it has been doing a lot of work to help them. It has surveyed 81 air ports across the world that will or may see A380 operations, whether passenger or pure freight, based on aircraft orders and expres sions of interest. Among the 81, Airbus has identified "likely early airports", and has pri oritised these according to estimates of when they will see their first A380s. "Many airports had anticipated something larger Airbus will have to prove its promises in 2005, when the first A380 flight tests start CASE STUDY TOKYO NARITA Big changes not needed Tokyo Narita is providing 12 stands capable of handling A380s. Seven of these are at existing terminal build ings, and five A380 gates are under construction as an extension to terminal 1. The airport authority (NAA) says that parking an A380 at any of these stands will not restrict the size of aircraft that can be parked at adjacent stands, so it will be possible for two or more A380s to be parked side by side. "We are planning to handle the A380 with bifurcated boarding bridges attached to the main deck doors," says the NAA, which is having the bridges constructed to its own design. There will be five remote stands, but NAA says provision of ground equipment for these "depends on the airline". The NAA says none of its runways, taxiways or other pavements will require any reinforcement to handle the A380. There is also already adequate spacing between runways and taxiways. Adjacent taxiways are 100m apart, and there is a 200m gap between taxiways and adjacent runways. No filleting of taxiway corners is needed because the Boeing 777-300, which is longer than the A380, is already in operation at Narita. Narita says it is "planning to upgrade [its] ICAO fire and rescue cat egory from category 9 to category 10 in time for A380 services". The authority says the total cost of all the changes required for the A380 is at this stage "not clear, but we do not assume it costs much because runway, taxiway and other existing facilities do not need large-scale changes". www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 24-30 SEPTEMBER 2002 35
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