News in brief

Another A380 milestone was achieved on 15 July when Airbus’ 21st century flagship jetliner was welcomed to its 110th airport. This occurred when the MSN004 A380 arrived at Schiphol airport in the Netherlands. The aircraft tested well in airport compatibility evaluations. With this landing, the A380 has now visited 110 airports worldwide.

A second Airbus engineering centre has been opened in Wichita, Kansas as the company continues to grow its local employment by an average of 30 per cent annually. This new facility is to focus on wing work for Airbus aircraft, and also will house a growing team of in-service repair engineers specialising in providing critical support to customers around the world.

One of Dragonair’s A330s is now flying with a special livery to mark the Hong Kong carrier's 25th anniversary celebrations. It features a golden dragon together with distinctive Chinese characters highlighting the anniversary theme: “Serving you for 25 years.”  Since 1985, Dragonair has become one of Asia's leading regional carriers. A part of the Cathay Pacific Group, the airline today operates an all-Airbus passenger jetliner fleet comprising 13 A330-300s, nine A320s and six A321s, and serves a network of 29 destinations in Mainland China and Asia.

Airbus has delivered the initial jet engine air inlet for its next-generation A350 XWB, which is to be utilised by Rolls-Royce for cross-wind testing and certification of the Trent XWB engine.  This highly-advanced component feeds engines with air, keeps the fan stable and performs a de-icing role – while also reducing overall engine noise.  Two additional air inlets will be supplied in 2010 for blade-out rig testing and aerodynamic and noise tests.

Another A380 milestone was achieved on 31 May when Airbus’ 21st century flagship jetliner was welcomed to its 100th airport.  This occurred with the stopover of Lufthansa’s no. 1 A380 at Karlsruhe/Baden Baden Airport, Germany, in the framework of the carrier’s line-training activities. The 100 airports visited to date by the A380 include such large international hubs as London Heathrow, Beijing and New York; medium-sized passenger airports like Milwaukee in the United States and Karlsruhe/Baden Baden; and smaller airfields such as Canada’s Iqaluit and Oshkosh in the U.S.

Production of A320 Family jetliners on the new Tianjin final assembly line in China is on track at the rate of two aircraft per month, and will continue to ramp up to the planned four monthly pace by 2012.  Since the start of this year, 10 A320 Family aircraft have been provided to customers from the Tianjin facility, bringing the total number to 21 since the Chinese final assembly line delivered it first aircraft in June 2009.

Continuing its world tour as part of the International Year of Biodiversity, the “See the bigger picture” photo exhibition is now appearing in Berlin, Germany for Reisepavillon 2010 – the International Conference on Sustainable Tourism. The display – which features winning images from Airbus’ youth photo competition highlighting biodiversity – is part of the company’s support for the United Nations’ Green Wave initiative.

The best keeps getting better at Airbus, which continues to develop new innovations for its benchmark A320 single-aisle aircraft family. Saudi Arabian Airlines' initial A320 is the first to be equipped with a high bandwidth in-flight entertainment system, which allows passengers to access high-speed interactive services such as full audio and video on demand. This option is now available on all Airbus aircraft.

Airbus' new Chinese final assembly line recently delivered its 18th aircraft to date - an A320 to China Southern Airlines, which operates the largest Airbus fleet in the country. Output at this modern Tianjin-based facility will be ramped up to four aircraft monthly by the end of 2011 to meet China's growing demand for highly efficient single-aisle aircraft.