Airbus ordered to check wings

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) ordered last Feb. 8 that all Airbus A380 superjumbo planes be checked for wing cracks, even as the aircraft manufacturer insisted there was nothing to worry about.

The cracks had been found “following an unscheduled internal inspection of an A380 wing,” EASA said in a statement.

Further to the finding, inspections were carried out on a number of other aeroplanes during which a new form of cracking was identified which, “if not detected and corrected, may lead to reduction of the structural integrity of the aeroplane,” the statement said.

EASA, which had already said last month ordered that 20 such jets be inspected following the discovery of cracks in the wings of Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Air France planes, has expanded the checks to all 67 A380s currently in operation, a spokesman said.

The announcement came after Australia’s Qantas removed one of its A380 from service after discovering “minor cracks” in its wings, but said that there was no risk to flight safety.

When the first checks were announced last month, Airbus’s vice president Tom Williams insisted the tiny wing cracks could be easily repaired and did not pose any danger.

“This is not a fatigue cracking problem,” Williams said, blaming the cracks on design and manufacturing issues instead.

“The cracks do not compromise the airworthiness of the aircraft,” he insisted.

Airbus reiterated that stance again on Wednesday.

The EASA spokesman said the checks comprised both a “detailed visual inspection”, but also more intense testing that would be able to detect potential faults invisible to the naked eye.

There was no urgency to the inspections and those aircraft that had already flown more than 1,800 flights would be checked first, he said.

Earlier, Qantas took one of its A380s out of service Wednesday after discovering “minor cracks” in its wings.

The Australian airline stressed that it was not the “type two” cracking found across the global A380 fleet last month which was “now the subject of a European airworthiness directive.”

“To date, type two cracking has not been found on Qantas aircraft,” a Qantas spokeswoman told AFP.

The small cracking, on “some wing rib feet”, was discovered during an extra round of precautionary checks requested by Airbus on the Qantas superjumbo after it hit severe turbulence over India in January.

Seven passengers were injured and four required hospital treatment in Singapore following the incident.

“This cracking is not related to the turbulence, or specific to Qantas, but is traced back to a manufacturing issue,” the Qantas spokeswoman said.

“Airbus has confirmed that it has no effect on flight safety.”

Qantas, which has 12 A380s in its fleet, said an “inspection and repair regime has been developed” in conjunction with Airbus and it expected the jet in question to return to service within a week.

“We will follow Airbus instructions on any further action that may be required,” the spokeswoman said.

It is the second Qantas A380 to be found with wing rib cracks, with a superjumbo involved in a dramatic mid-air engine explosion over Indonesia in November 2010 also suffering cracking.

The A380 is the world’s biggest passenger jet and a key product in Airbus’s line-up as it battles its main rival, US giant Boeing, for the top spot in the world civil airliner industry.

The A380 double-decker plane entered service in 2007 after years of technical delays. There are now 67 in service around the world and, while they have never had a fatal accident, there have been teething problems.

-business.iafrica.com

Cracks in Qantas A380 Wing Parts Found

Qantas has temporarily grounded one of its Airbus A380s while it waits to hear whether the manufacturer recommends any fixes for hairline cracks discovered in wing rib feet.

The airline describes these cracks as “minor,” unlike the more serious – or type two – cracks that led to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issuing new inspection guidelines for the wing parts. Qantas found cracking in about 35 rib feet, out of about 2,000 in an A380 wing.

Qantas has sent inspection results to Airbus, and the manufacturer will advise if any repairs are needed, or if the carrier is simply required to inspect the aircraft again during its next maintenance check. Either way, the airline expects the aircraft to be back flying within a week.

The aircraft in question – VH-OQF – was involved in a severe turbulence incident on Jan. 7 over India. It was given a visual inspection in Singapore, and cleared to continue to Sydney. However, Airbus requested “additional precautionary inspections,” the airline says.

It was during this these inspections, which began Feb. 5, that the hairline cracks were found. However, Qantas says the cracks were unrelated to the Jan. 7 turbulence event.

Similar hairline cracks were found on another Qantas A380 – VH-OQA – that has been under repair in Singapore since being severely damaged by an uncontained engine failure on Nov. 4, 2010.

These are the only two Qantas A380s to be inspected for the cracks so far. The EASA requirement is for the aircraft to be inspected after 1,300 flight cycles, and the Qantas A380s are yet to reach this point.

The cracking has already been fixed on VH-OQA, the aircraft which is still in Singapore. A Qantas spokesman tells Aviation Week that the carrier still plans for this aircraft to return to Australia in late March. It has not started test flights, but these are expected to begin soon, the spokesman says.

 

-aviationweek.com

-biztravelguru.com

A380 Wing Fixes Cause Little Disruption

A European Aviation Safety Agency mandate on A380 operators to inspect and potentially fix L-shaped wing rib-feet has so far had a minor impact on service operations at Singapore Airlines. Lufthansa also does not see major issues once its aircraft are up for review.

Singapore Airlines had by far the largest number of A380s affected by the inspection regime. It found cracks on all six aircraft inspected, with five returned to service already and a sixth to be back in operations on February 4. No major service disruptions resulted although some A380 flights were downgauged to Boeing 777-300ERs while the Airbus aircraft was being fixed.

Similarly, Lufthansa’s director of A380 introduction, Dean Rainieri, says he does not expect any major disruptions. Lufthansa currently has a fleet of eight aircraft, but they are not yet affected due to their low number of flight hours.

The situation matches Airbus projections. The aircraft maker has identified fixes that mitigate the cracking by changing its wing assembly process and also is looking to use a different material for the wing rib-feet for extra strength.

But that is not the only in-service issue the aircraft maker is dealing with on its flagship product. Fleet-wide dispatch reliability of the A380 is now at around 98%. “We were not at the levels of reliability that we had hoped for,” concedes Paul Oliver, head of customer support for the Middle East, Africa and India during Aviation Week’s MRO Middle East conference in Dubai.

However, he stresses the trend lines are in the right direction and that more than half of the aircraft’s operators are at 99%. Lufthansa is at 99.2%, according to Rainieri. The airline has operated a fleet of four aircraft at 100% for four months before encountering some glitches.

Separately, the Qantas A380 severely damaged as a result of the Nov 4, 2010, uncontained Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine failure is now “back in flying condition,” Oliver says. But the aircraft is still undergoing wing crack repairs in Singapore where is has been fixed.

 

-aviationweek.com

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Hong Kong Added To Qantas Airbus A380 Destinations

The arrival of two more Airbus A380s last month is enabling Qantas to introduce the aircraft on its Sydney-Hong Kong route, as well as boosting A380 service in other markets.

The aircraft are the 11th and 12th A380s for Qantas. The carrier is not receiving any A380s this year, and the next two are not due until early 2013, an airline spokesman says.

Hong Kong is the fourth destination in the Qantas network served by the A380. The aircraft will fly this route four times a week. Qantas already operates Airbus A330-300s and Boeing 747-400s on the route.

Qantas is boosting A380 service on the Melbourne-Singapore-London route from six times a week to daily. The carrier also operates a second daily flight on this route using 747-400s. The Melbourne-Los Angeles route also will receive daily A380 service, up from four times a week.

The airline already operates daily A380 flights on the Sydney-Singapore-London and Sydney-Los Angeles routes.

 

-aviationweek.com

-australianaviation.com.au

RedQ: New Qantas service in Asia

REDQ could be the name of the new Qantas service in Asia after reports the airline has lodged a range of trademark applications featuring the name.

Qantas have also registered RedQ Executive Express, RedSky and OneAsia for the airline’s new ultra-premium service aimed at executives travelling to Asia, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

However, RedQ Executive Flyer is believed to be favoured after the airline is said to have tried to push through the trademark through in June.

The new name could create friction with rivals Virgin Australia, who secured Red Jet as a trademark several years ago for the charity foundation it operates.

Both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have been touted as possible sites for the new Qantas airline, with China being the key market for the airline.

Qantas hope to have a fleet of 24 Airbus A320s within several years.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the airline’s positive experience setting up a Singapore base for Jetstar response meant a similar opportunity existed at the premium end of the market.

“The new service will be better than anything else seen in Asia with lie-flat beds in the business cabin, superior to the award winning first class A380 beds,” he told Air Transport World.

The China operations announcement in August came as Qantas announced 1000 job cuts, angering unions who called it one of the airline’s “darkest days.”

 

-dailytelegraph.com.au

Korean Air A380 aims for business passengers

Korean Air operated its first long-haul Airbus A380 flight Tuesday from Seoul Incheon to New York JFK, and believes the aircraft can help it attract new business passengers.

“We hope we can increase our corporate sales with the A380,” Managing VP and Head of Passenger Business Division Keehong Woo told reporters in a briefing Monday at the carrier’s Seoul headquarters. KE now has two A380s in its fleet; in addition to the newest one, which will be operated on the ICN-JFK route, it is utilizing one to fly from ICN to Tokyo Narita and Hong Kong.

It is slated take delivery of three more A380s this year and will place them in service from ICN to Paris Charles de Gaulle, Beijing and Los Angeles, respectively.

KE has configured the A380 for 407 passengers, the fewest of any of the airlines that have taken delivery of the aircraft. It has dedicated the upper deck to 94 business-class seats, an inflight lounge dubbed the “Celestial Bar” and a “Duty Free Showcase.”

Woo noted, “We put all business class in the upper deck. [The upper deck] looks like a business jet … We see that we can make more money [in business class] than in economy. We have more potential to develop business class … We think in the big markets, like LA and New York and big cities in Europe, we can fill up our [A380] business class.”

He pointed out that most A380 operators have placed economy seats in the rear of the upper deck. The main deck of KE’s A380 features 301 economy seats and 12 first-class suites.

Woo conceded that, in the past, KE has not enjoyed the same reputation for business-class service as some of its rivals. “It takes time [to alter perceptions], but we’ve changed a lot recently,” he said. “We think we are at the level of any other airline, like Cathay [Pacific Airways] or Singapore [Airlines], in terms of quality of service, quality of product and quality of operations.”

-atwonline.com

SIA Singapore Girl makes a comeback

A well-groomed young woman gently pours steaming tea into a cup inside a mock-up plane cabin as an instructor urges her to smile and make eye contact.

“Okay good job, keep it going, but remember not too much as they might want milk in the tea,” trainer Philip Cheong tells her.

Nearby, giggles fill a brightly lit room as a cluster of equally-young women carefully wash their faces and settle back in their seats.

“Feel your skin, is it softer, smoother? Okay, we are now going to the next step and apply the toner,” makeup consultant Shera Begum says as male members of the team watch attentively from the sidelines.

Welcome to the sprawling cabin crew training facility of Singapore Airlines (SIA), where the flight attendats that made the carrier famous for service are drilled in the finer arts of hospitality in the air.

In an era of cheap, no-frills travel, SIA has overhauled its marketing strategy to put fresh emphasis on its famed cabin service with the iconic “Singapore Girl” in a figure-hugging batik uniform at the forefront.

For SIA, the stakes have never been higher now that the carrier finds itself under fierce assault in the premium-travel segment from the likes of Emirates and Cathay Pacific.

Airline analysts estimate that 40 per cent of SIA revenues come from first- and business-class travellers who demand high levels of service, so nothing is left to chance during the 13-week training course for new cabin crew.

Harking back to an earlier marketing strategy, SIA launched a global advertising campaign in February with the “Singapore Girl” as the main theme instead of new aircraft or luxurious amenities like high-tech seats.

“She represents not just the Singapore Airlines air stewardess, but qualities that all our cabin crew – male and female – possess,” SIA commercial vice president Mak Swee Wah said.

Adrian Pring, a London-based analyst with business consultancy Brand Union, said the return to the “Singapore Girl” campaign was a strategic move for SIA.

“As more airline companies, particularly the up-and-coming Middle Eastern carriers, began taking delivery of the A380, or similar modern aircraft, SIA’s ability to differentiate through ‘hardware’ waned,” he added.

“So, with costs fluctuating and everyone flying the same equipment, an important place to attempt to differentiate is through the customer experience, underpinned by the people that will facilitate and bring the experience to life,” Pring said.

In 2007, SIA became the first airline to operate the Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger plane, but other carriers have since acquired the “superjumbo” and the global recession hit hard the following year.

Now that the high-spending passengers are coming back, SIA is going all out for their business by playing up its cabin service.

“It reinforces the view that when it comes to premium flying, it is the choice for many business passengers,” said Shukor Yusof, an analyst with Standard and Poor’s Asian Equity Research.

About 60 per cent of SIA’s more than 7000 cabin crew are women, mostly from Singapore and Malaysia.

Each recruitment exercise held in Singapore typically draws 1000 applicants. The airline said it has no fixed quota for each intake and hires cabin crew on merit.

-watoday.com.au

Emirates optimistic about A380 approval in India

Emirates is still waiting to hear whether it will be allowed to fly Airbus A380s into major Indian airports, but it does not think there will be a long-term holdup.

Both Emirates and Lufthansa have said they want to operate A380 routes to India, but so far the government has not approved the use of the aircraft at Indian airports. Local media are reporting that this is partly to protect Air India, which is due to receive its first A380 this year.

However, the Indian government has not formed a specific policy on A380s, says Andrew Parker, Emirates’ senior VP-international affairs. The government is “being cautious and taking its time” in studying the operational implications of A380 service, Parker tells Aviation Week at the Aviation Outlook Australia Pacific conference in Sydney. “We’ll be patient, [although] we want to fly the A380 [to India] as soon as possible,” Parker says.

India is an extremely important country in the Emirates network, and this is “a market designed for A380s,” says Parker. The carrier has already flown a demonstration flight to New Delhi last year, and both Delhi and Mumbai airports are among those that can handle the aircraft, Parker says.

The official stance of the Indian government is that it is considering whether to approve A380 operations at these airports. Parker says Emirates has not formally sought to begin A380 service but has been holding discussions with the government on the subject. Emirates is “certainly hopeful” that a decision will come soon, and is optimistic that the A380s will be approved, says Parker.

 

-aviationweek.com

-wikipedia.org

No Babies Allowed on Malaysia Airlines First Class

Malaysia Airlines recently revealed that it’s banning babies from traveling in first-class on its recently purchased Airbus A380 super jumbo jets.

The airline will begin flying these new A380 planes in 2012.

Babies will be welcome in business and coach class.

This decision comes after the airline said it wouldn’t accommodate infants in its Boeing 747-400 fleet. These planes fly between Kuala Lumpur and Sydney as well as London and Amsterdam.

News of the initial ban was first released through a series of tweets sent out by Malaysia Airlines CEO Tengku Azmil on June 19, when the press approached him about a rumored “no babies” policy.

This week Australian Business Traveller sent Azmil a tweet asking if the “no babies in first class policy” would be implemented on the new A380. “Yup,” the CEO tweeted back.

Babies on planes have long been a controversial topic, especially among business travelers who often complain that fussing children disrupt their peace and quiet. In February, a campaign was launched to encourage airlines to create child-free flights and zones on planes, and Virgin, Emirates, and British airlines implied that they’re looking into this, according to MSNBC.

-sfgate.com

Japanese Skymark Airlines Orders Airbus A380

On Feb. 16, Airbus top salesman John Leahy said the plane maker is poised to sign off on a new order for the A380 super jumbo with Skymark Airlines, a Japanese low-cost carrier.

Speaking to a gathering of reporters sponsored by French aerospace journalists’ association AJPAE, Leahy, Airbus’s chief operating officer for customers, said a purchase order would be signed shortly—perhaps as early as today—making Skymark the 19th customer for the ultra-widebody transport, after South Korea’s Asiana Airlines, which committed to the aircraft at the end of January. Although he didn’t say how big the orders will be, low-cost carrier Skymark inked a letter of intent last November for four aircraft plus two options with the intention of converting the LOI into a firm order by spring.

Skymark, which would be the first airline from Japan and the first no-frills carrier to acquire the A380, said it would introduce the initial aircraft in spring 2014 for domestic services and the others in 2014-16 for domestic and long-haul flights. It has not divulged the configuration, but judging from Japanese experience with the Boeing 747, a high-density layout along the lines of the 840-seat configuration adopted by France’s Air Austral would be a likely choice.

With new orders expected from Qatar and other prospects in the pipeline, Leahy said he anticipates that 2011 will be “the year of the A380.”

He also predicted that the aircraft will serve as a beachhead for Airbus in Japan, which is still almost totally dominated by Boeing. One favorable factor, he said, is the gradual liberalization of Japan’s airline market, which is enabling fledgling carriers, such as Skymark, which has a less conservative bent than established carriers Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, to enter the marketplace. Another is the introduction of the A380 by international carriers flying into Japan.

Separately, Leahy said Airbus engineers are studying the business case for re-engining the A318 to the A320 New Engine Option design, which was launched in December and has been adopted by Virgin America and India’s IndiGo. Right now, in addition to the A320, plans are to extend the NEO re-engining program to the A321 and the A319, in that order, and there is strong pressure, especially from Airbus’s corporate jet operations, to do so with the A318 as well. “But the market will decide,” he said.

The Airbus executive also reaffirmed that Airbus would have several hundred orders for the A320NEO by the Paris Air Show in June, and that Boeing will ultimately be forced to re-engine its 737 because of the low level of maturity of radically new powerplants capable of supporting a business case for a clean-sheet aircraft design.

 

- aviationweek.com