Julian Moxon/Toulouse
Airbus Industrie's Large Aircraft division is considering up to six potential sites in Europe for production of the 500- to 800-seat A3XX transport.
"We're looking at either inland or coastal locations," says the division's senior vice-president, Jurgen Thomas. A major study launched in mid-1996 will be concluded in the second quarter of 1997, he adds. Thomas promises, however, that the decision will have "-nothing to do with politics".
What is certain is that a new factory will definitely have to be built, and that the existing Toulouse and Hamburg final-assembly sites are likely to be the favoured inshore candidates. Thomas says, however, that "-we have to consider the relative advantages of transporting smaller components by aircraft to a potential inshore site, against the ability to carry complete subassemblies by ship to a coastal location". Airbus declines to name the coastal sites under consideration.
All Airbus major subassemblies, including complete wing sets for the A330/A340 long-range aircraft, are transported around the various European manufacturing sites by the "Beluga" Airbus Super Transporter, derived from the A300-600 airliner. A3XXmajor subassemblies will be considerably larger than those of the existing Airbus line-up, however, which, along with the addition of US and Far Eastern risk-sharing partners in the $8 billion-10 billion programme, may favour a coastal solution.
Meanwhile, decisions on the materials from which some of the A3XX major structural components will be made are not yet finalised, although Thomas confirms that the horizontal tai lplane ("of a size comparable to that of the A310 wing"), the fin and wing outboard of the engines, will be constructed from carbon fibre composite. Tests are now being carried out on the use of GLARE aluminium-composites for the fuselage, using an A340 fuselage section, with "excellent results" says Thomas. Further trials with a full-sized A3XX section are due to start at the end of 1997.
Source: Flight International
