TOULOUSE, France (AFP) - The Airbus A380, the world's largest civilian airliner, has received its air worthiness certificate from US and European authorities, 10 months before Singapore Airlines is to get the first commercial model.

The certificate was signed by Patrick Goudou for the European Aviation Safety Agency and John Hickey for the US
Federal Aviation Administration at an Airbus facility in Toulouse, southern France.

Standing in a hanger before a massive A380, Louis Gallois, chief executive of Airbus and co-chief executive of the parent group EADS said: "This double seal of approval represents a key milestone for the A380 program.

"It recognises the quality of the work performed by all those who have worked hard for many years" to develop the superjumbo jet.

Gallois, who was named head of Airbus in October to resolve chronic production problems with the A380, said the certification "confirms that the aircraft is meeting or exceeding the expectations in terms of performance, range and environnemental friendliness and cabin comfort.

"Both customers and their passengers will love it," he vowed.

Five A380 test aircraft have carried out more than 800 flights lasting 2,600 hours in a test campaign that began in April 2005.

Singapore Airlines was to have received its first A380 early this year but delays have progressively pushed back the plane's arrival.

Airbus has said SIA'S first A380 -- one of 19 ordered by the carrier -- will now be delivered in October 2007.

 

Yawn. Not one, not a single U.S. pax airline has an order for that massive piece of metal.

 

Didn't FDX cancel theirs?

I sure hope they got that wing problem fixed...

 

Lets hope that changes. I would kill to fly that plane, the bigger the better

 

Actually the fewer that fly in US airspace the better. With 3+ minutes/10+ mile in trail restrictions it could seriously cause some major issues at busy airports...

It will do well overseas though on the short hops around asia where they cram as many people onboard as they can, then fly for only 1 hr...

 

A) It is not a massive piece of metal...it is a massive piece of composite.

B) The wing failed its test--it did not pass Certificate minimums...yet, they certified it anyway (?) More numbers-fudging by the Europeans...?

C) There may be some who would kill to fly this disaster-in-waiting...or some who will be killed while flying it.

As the tail disintegrations on the A300s and A310s (Interflug, AA 587, AA 903, Air Transat 961 and the Fed Ex tail found to be delaminated last November due to hydraulic fluid entrainment) show that Airbus has not put in place an adequate NDT inspection regime to ensure the interior of the composites in the various structures are not wearing down or damaged internally by turbulence, etc.

Jetblaster

 

What do you have Penis envy?

Who cares how big the airplane you fly is.........as long as you get paid well.

I personally would rather fly a 737 at $200/hr than a A380 @ $125/hr.
Get the drift?
I would also prefer not to be an Airbus Test pilot......unless they want to give me Test Pilot override.......

 

lol i'm right there with you. When did it fail it's wing test? Anyone have a link on this?

 

Let the rest of the world have it. All this plane is going to do is allow more people to be killed when this thing turns into a smoking crater. Yes I'm a pessimist, but I have very little faith in composites and even less faith in anything French, especially their aircraft. Watch the 777 wing cert. test again, you will probably feel the same way.

 

Airbus' biggest challenge now is to sell enough of those Toulouse Turkeys to at least break even. Last I heard that number is 400+ airplanes.

The wing broke at 1.47 (I think) of ultimate load - the certification requirement is 1.5. Airbus made some structural changes to fix the problem. Even if EASA had let Airbus slide on that (which I don't think they would) the FAA wouldn't.

As for the use of composites, the technology has improved since the A300 era as well as testing techniques to detect flaws. Whether you all like it or not, plastic airplanes are the future of commercial aviation.