News in brief

The Airbus Corporate Foundation has helped deliver 36 tonnes of dried food to famine-blighted areas of southeast Africa, in a relief effort organised jointly with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IRFC). On 27 July, a flight test crew left Toulouse, France aboard an A340 and collected the supplies from Bergen, Norway – just two days after the United Nations appealed to private companies for help. The food was delivered to Nairobi, Kenya the following day, to be transported by road to the most-affected areas of neighboring Somalia.

Airbus and Singapore Airlines are teaming up to support CREATE, an annual high school competition that promotes career paths in the engineering field. Organised by the Singapore government, this year’s edition focusses on “green” ideas for the aviation sector – with teams competing for a chance to visit Airbus’ headquarters in Toulouse, France.

Airbus has reached a new delivery milestone with handover of the 800th aircraft from its widebody A330 Family, which occurred today during a ceremony in Toulouse, France. The aircraft – an A330-200F freighter – was received by Aircastle Advisor Ltd for operation by Hong Kong Airlines, part of the HNA Group, and it marks the third added to Hong Kong Airlines’ fleet. To date, Airbus has received a total of 1,140 A330 orders from customers around the world.

China Southern Airlines has received its latest A330-200, with handover occurring today during a ceremony at the 2011 Paris Air Show. This delivery reinforces the A330’s status as China’s most popular widebody aircraft – with a total of 77 jetliners now in service across the country. China Southern Airlines will mark another milestone later this year when it becomes the first Chinese operator of Airbus’ 21st century flagship A380.

Airbus Military today delivered Australia’s second A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), less than one month after handover of its initial aircraft – which was received for operation by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) on 1 June. Designated the KC-30A in RAAF service, the country’s newest A330 MRTT was converted by Qantas Defence Services in Brisbane, Australia. The third aircraft currently is undergoing its conversion process in Brisbane, with delivery scheduled for later this year.

As part of an agreement signed today at the Paris Air Show, Airbus Military and Israel Aerospace Industries will jointly develop and market a new version of the C295 tactical transport – which is to be equipped with an Airborne Early Warning and Command (AEW&C) system. The aircraft’s readiness for the AEW&C mission is being validated through flight trials of a C295 outfitted with a rotodome demonstrator in Seville, Spain.

Airbus and engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce have entered into an agreement to develop an enhanced version of the A350-1000 – the largest member of Airbus’ next-generation A350 XWB Family – featuring a higher-thrust Rolls-Royce Trent XWB turbofan. To deliver up to 97,000 lbs. of thrust on takeoff, this engine is the most powerful ever developed for an Airbus aircraft. The extra thrust, combined with an increased takeoff weight of 308 tonnes, will enable airlines to fly the new A350-1000 about 400 nm further with a full load of 350 passengers – or carry approximately 4.5 extra tonnes of payload at a given range. The agreement was signed today at the Paris Air Show by Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders and John Rishton, CEO of Rolls-Royce.

The first A380 for China Southern Airlines has been rolled out of the Airbus paint shop in Hamburg, Germany, where it was completed with the airline’s distinctive livery. China Southern Airlines has five A380s on order, and will become the seventh operator of Airbus’ 21st century flagship jetliner after taking delivery of its initial aircraft later this year.

Airbus has marked a new A380 programme milestone with its delivery of the 50th aircraft, received yesterday by Singapore Airlines – the first carrier to inaugurate revenue service with the 21st century flagship jetliner in 2007.  This brings the total number of A380s delivered in 2011 to nine, with Lufthansa and Qantas having each received three during the year – while Singapore Airlines joins Air France and new operator Korean Air with one apiece. Singapore Airlines now has a total of 12 A380s in its fleet.

Airbus has expanded its presence in the online social media sphere with launch of the company’s official Twitter account (@Airbus). By “following” Airbus, registered users of this popular application will have instant access to the latest company news and information – which conveniently will appear in their “Twitter feeds” as it is announced. To follow Airbus on Twitter, please visit: www.twitter.com/airbus.