A320Neo doing taxi tests http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/CorporateAircraft/Corporate-Aircraft/i-cGtf5v3
Airbus will deliver the first of ten A380s to Qatar Airways but may delay the first flight of the A320neo due to possible engine issues. After a three-month dispute that had blocked delivery of the A380s, Qatar has agreed to take the new jet, people familiar with the matter said. Airbus declined to comment. Qatar Airways, which had refused to take delivery of the first three aircraft, citing concerns about the quality of the cabin interior, was not available for comment. In July, its chief executive said he would seek compensation for the delay. Separately, industry sources said Airbus had been forced to hold off the first flight of the A320neo because of what one described as a "minor" technical issue. A spokesman for Airbus declined to comment on whether there had been a delay, but said the company's plan to fly the plane in the third quarter remained unchanged. "Airbus and Pratt & Whitney are working together towards the first flight, and there is no change in plans to carry it out in the third quarter," the Airbus spokesman said. However, a person familiar with the matter said it now looked increasingly likely that the first flight would be pushed back to the fourth quarter. "When flight testing starts is less important than having a successful flight test campaign," the person said. The A320neo, an update version of its best-selling A320 short- and medium-haul jet, is hugely important to Airbus with orders of more than 3,000 aircraft. The plane is due to enter service in 2015. Airbus has not published a schedule, making it difficult to verify whether the timing has slipped within the official window. But the sources said the first flight had at one point been penciled in for the first half of September. ENGINE SCRUTINY Airbus plans a complex year-long flight test programme using eight aircraft spanning three versions of the A320neo family. Each version has a choice of two types of engine, so the plane maker must achieve safety certification for six types. The amount of testing and data storage and analysis needed to certify modern aircraft has soared, from 12,000 parameters when the current version of the A320 made its debut in 1987 to 670,000 parameters for the A350, which is nearing certification. Most attention is on the performance of the engines after problems with a broadly similar Pratt & Whitney engine caused the temporary suspension of flight trials for the Bombardier CSeries, a new competitor to Airbus and Boeing jets. The first A320neo flight and the first aircraft in service will use Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-JM engines, part of the same family as those being tested for the CSeries. The companies involved have said the two engine types are different. Two industry sources said there was speculation of a new problem in engine testing, but the person familiar with the matter said Airbus and Pratt were taking extra care to ensure they had completed their analysis of the tests carried out so far. Asked about the reported delay, a Pratt & Whitney spokeswoman said: "We are working closely with Airbus as we prepare for first flight". Airbus may be reluctant to start flying until it is certain the engine is performing smoothly, especially in light of the CSeries' three-month grounding. Although Airbus has outsold the delayed CSeries, the setbacks to the Canadian jet also mean there is less data available to Pratt than would have been the case if the CSeries had entered service on schedule in 2013. The Pratt & Whitney-powered version of A320neo is due to enter service in the fourth quarter of 2015. Aircraft using engines from CFM, a joint venture of General Electric and Safran, should enter service in mid-2016. Barry Eccleston, president and CEO of Airbus Americas, said he was not aware of any disruption and Airbus had been pleased with the main new feature of Pratt's engine, a fuel-saving gear system. Flightglobal, meanwhile, reported that CFM had rescheduled flight tests for two versions including one planned for the A320neo, but a CFM spokeswoman said there was nothing unusual about this and that certification would be unaffected. In another key milestone, European safety authorities have said Airbus is on time to achieve certification for its newest wide-body jet, the A350, by the end of September. (Reuters)
From Concept to Reality - Episode 3. It’s time to outfit the #QatarAirways Airbus A380 interior in “Building The Experience”. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=613728635402425
Photo from Qatar Airways of the brand new #QatarAirways Airbus A380 at the #Hamburg Delivery Center.
Lufthansa has agreed to order 25 new Airbus A320s worth EUR€2.5 billion (USD$3.24 billion) at list prices to replace older aircraft and cut fuel costs at two subsidiary airlines. Lufthansa's supervisory board agreed to buy 10 current-generation A320ceos for its Eurowings low-cost unit and 15 A320neos for its Swiss International division. A further 13 A320s will be transferred from the group's total aircraft order to Eurowings starting in 2015 as it seeks to expand budget operations to tap into a segment of the market that it sees as offering strong growth. Lufthansa, which has prided itself on being a full-service airline targeting business customers, wants to expand Eurowings to serve tourist routes from destinations outside Germany, where it already operates budget services under the Germanwings brand. "There are more customers out there that can't be reached with the premium segment," Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said at an event in Frankfurt last week. Eurowings currently uses Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft but Lufthansa says these are not cost-effective enough for expansion. The plan is for the unit to operate up to 23 A320s, with revamped operations to start early next year. The first base outside Germany will be in Basel. (Reuters)
Airbus will carry out the first flight of its revamped A320neo on Thursday at 10:30am in Toulouse, France. Airbus is bringing out the fuel-saving version of its best-selling A320 narrowbody model from next year in competition with Boeing 737max.
Etihad's first Airbus A380 has been seen in the air flying. The tail displays the new coral livery that Etihad is going with but the rest of the aircraft still has to be painted.
The official unveiling of the new Qatar Airways Airbus A380 https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=844410525577869
The second Qatar Airways A380 has been seen outside, still bearing French registration but shows how fast Airbus is rolling off the largest airliner for the Qatari airline.
Airbus looks set to win European safety certification for the A350 on Tuesday, people familiar with the plans said. The stamp of approval will allow the wide-body airliner to enter service once the first production model has been tested and delivered to launch customer Qatar Airways, which the companies expect to happen in the fourth quarter. The 300-350 seat A350 was developed at an estimated cost of USD$15 billion to compete with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Both use a carbon-composite design to save weight and cut fuel costs. The A350 is also expected to compete with Boeing's larger 777 when a new version comes out later in the decade. After more than year of flight trials, the European Aviation Safety Agency and the US Federal Aviation Administration are expected to give their approvals simultaneously, but without the glitzy celebrations which marked the certification of the A380 in 2006. Airbus officials said last week the certification could take place in coming days. The company declined further comment. Airbus had set a September target for the first flight of its upgraded A320neo, which took place on Thursday, and for the certification of the A350. (Reuters)
Airbus A350-900 today has received Type Certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
A look at the second Airbus A380 for Etihad Airways. http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=7901458