Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON
Airbus is firming up its plans for combi and all-freight derivatives of its proposed A3XX airliner, as it works towards a launch decision by early 1999.
As envisaged, both cargo versions of the baseline 560-seat, A3XX-100 will feature a main-deck 3.43 x 2.54m cargo door in the aft fuselage. The freighter will also be equipped with a cargo door situated on the upper deck in the forward fuselage, which will require new extended height cargo loaders.
According to Philippe Jarry, vice president of market development in Airbus' Large Aircraft Division, the aft part of the -100 combi's main passenger deck will be configurable as a freight compartment, with capacity for up to 15 2.4 x 3.2m cargo pallets. A further 11 pallets, or 34 LD-3 containers, can be carried in the below-deck cargo holds. The combi will typically seat between 350 and 450 passengers on the main and upper decks. Jarry says that a combi configured to carry 11 pallets (35t of cargo) on the main deck would be able to carry its full load of 380 passengers, plus 15t of freight in the cargo compartment, over a range of more than 13,000km (7,000nm).
The full freight variant of the A3XX-100 will have three cargo decks (including lower-deck cargo hold) and be able to carry its maximum payload of 150t over a range of 9,250km. The upper deck will hold 18 pallets and the main deck 28, with up to 11 pallets on the lower level, giving a total of 57. "In comparison, the Boeing 747-400 freighter carries 30 pallets on its main deck," says Jarry.
Airbus is already studying weight-growth developments as well as a larger, 650-seat A3XX-200 version offering even greater capabilities in the freight role.
The consortium is involving 20 airlines and more than 40 airports in the A3XX's definition, including express and passenger freight carriers. Two A3XX "freighter/combi workshops" were held during 1997 - one hosted by FedEx in Memphis, Tennessee, and the other by Cargolux in Luxembourg - and a third is planned for East Asia, to be hosted by a combi-aircraft operator such as EVA Airways. "This will take place in a few months to enable us to progress with the definition of the cargo versions," says Jarry.
Airbus hopes to launch the aircraft by early 1999, and to deliver the first passenger version in 2003. Jarry says that, depending on market demand, the first freighter could enter service about 18-20 months after the passenger model.
Source: Flight International
