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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1189.PDF
A380 At the top of the list is London Heathrow, which is Virgin's hub. During the first year of operations this airport will also handle A380s of at least three other airlines - Emirates, Qantas and SIA. Airbus predicts that Heathrow will be second only to Japan's Tokyo Narita in the number of A380s it han dles through to 2019. Although Heathrow's new Terminal 5 (T5) development will have 10 A380-compatible stands with two-level jetties, and four remote parking spaces, this is not due to open until two years after the A380 enters service. To ensure that it is ready when A380 operations start, the airport's operator BAA is investing £400 million ($640 million) on modifications to airfield and terminal infrastructure over the next five years. The existing long-haul terminals, T3 and T4, will be modified to allow them to handle the A380 from 2006. To cope with the increased passenger flow, T3 will also have a new check-in area and larger arrivals hall with bigger baggage reclaim belts. A larger customs hall is due to open at the end of 2006. T3, where Virgin is based along with Emirates and SIA, will receive the bulk of the work. One of the existing piers (number six) is being redeveloped to give it four A380 stands, each with two jetties, one of which will be capable of docking to either the main or upper deck, with provision for a third jetty. T3 will also have a remote parking stand, and by 2008 it should have up to four more jetty stands. BAA says that plans for T4, from which Qantas operates, have not been finalised. Flight International understands T4 will initially have one A380 stand. Florian Preuss, Virgin's A380 project man ager airport and route liaison, says Virgin has been working closely with Heathrow on introducing the A380. He says the airline is aiming to keep turnaround times in line with the 2.5h it allows for its 747-400s. Full analy sis of passenger flows during boarding and de-boarding is about to begin, but Preuss says that it is clear that two-level loading will be quicker: "Ideally, we don't want to have 200 people trudging up and down stairs." Reconstruction of Heathrow's main south taxiways to widen and reposition them has already begun to ensure that there is suffi cient separation for A380s to manoeuvre between stands and the southern runway, 27L/09R. However work to allow A380 oper ations on the northern runway, 27R/09L, will not be completed until 2008. Preuss says that it is a concern that "Ideally we don't want to have 200 people trudging up and down the stairs" Sliding to safe USA-based slide manufacturer Goodrich says it is assuming the need for emergency evacuation of up to 900 passengers from the A380 in the design of its escape systems. Certification requirements remain the same as for for much smaller aircraft - evacuation complete within 90s. Goodrich won a two-way bidding contest to supply the 10 main deck, six upper-deck and two off-wing escape slides. All the slides are two-lane devices, tested to be able to cope with 70 people per lane per minute, and they are tapered toward the "toe end". Goodrich claims that if the equip ment and materials employed in the A380 slides were used on existing escape systems they would be 10% lighter. Although the basic material, as before, is urethane-coated nylon, the fabric weave is new, says Goodrich, and its new "Tribrid" inflation system is lighter, working partly with com pressed air but also embodying a gas generator using solid chemicals. The slides have to work in 25kt wind "from the most critical direction". Testing is carried out in Goodrich's new test centre, which contains fuse lage section mockups complete with operating A380 doors. The upper deck slides are stowed in the floor below the doors, whereas main deck slides are stowed in the doors and the off-wing devices in the upper wing/fuselage fairing. The "worst-case scenario", says Goodrich, is a situation in which the slides still have to be able to provide safe exit for passengers, and where the main gear is deployed, but the air craft has tipped back on to its tail. In this case the No 1 upper deck doors (the farthest forward) have to be able to cope with a 10m drop, and they do this by inflating a "toe-end" extension that is not normally triggered. The trig ger for the extension is automatic, set off by a sensor that measures the air craft attitude. A380 ESCAPE SYSTEM FLIGHT 4 •* 4 J Heathrow "will initially have only one A380- compatible runway", but BAA says that there are continguency plans to use the northern runway for the A380 if an emergency closes the southern one. Preuss says that the nearest A380-compatible alternatives are East Midlands or Manchester. The A380 is classed as a Code F aircraft in terms of runway compatibility, which lays out detailed criteria on runway/taxi way sep aration, runway exit sizes and load bearing rating. As a result, reconstruction of the taxi- way access to Heathrow's north 27R/09L runway, which is physically too tight for the A380, will be needed before it is approved for use. Code F requires a taxiway width of 25m with 17.5m wide shoulders. The AACG has an agreement to enable some airports to cir cumnavigate the Code F requirement through waivers, which allows the existing Code E/747 compatible 23m wide taxiway width to be maintained, with increased shoulder width (see diagram pXVIII). New York Kennedy has finalised its A380 master plan and has submitted its www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL SUPPLEMENT 20-26 MAY 2003 XXVII
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