Aircraft’s launch customers urged to secure components cover sooner rather than later despite delivery delays
Air France Industries is warning that the Airbus A380 service entry could be derailed if delivery delays tempt launch airlines to defer putting in place a robust component support system.Alain Bassil, president of Air France Industries – which partners Lufthansa Technik in the A380 maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) venture Spairliners – says he is concerned by the decision of many launch airlines to defer selecting an MRO provider, crucial to supporting the many innovative systems and components on the aircraft.
According to Bassil, A380 operators, with the exception of Emirates, which has ordered 45 of the ultra-large aircraft, will essentially be operating comparatively small fl eets. However, these airlines worldwide support.“If you want to be sure how your operations are covered as an A380 operator, you need to position yourself early in the process. This is a complicated aircraft and the level of investment needed, based on the airline’s levels of standards,will be significant.
“This is a landmark aircraft, and if there is not sufficient preparation,there is a high potential for disappointment from customers,”says Bassil.
Airbus last year confirmed revised delivery schedules for its initial A380 customers, confirming that the early customers would suffer at least a six-month slip as a result of production problems hitting the programme. Singapore Airlines has retained its position as launch operator and is scheduled to receive its fi rst aircraft late this year. It will be followed by Qantas and then Emirates in the first half of 2007.
The Hamburg-based Spairliners joint venture said last year that it was hoping to secure third-party work by the end of 2005 in an effort to boost potential economy-of-scale savings. But the venture,which ultimately is targeting 30% market share, or up to 60 aircraft over the coming years, has as yet nothing to report in terms of thirdparty customers.
Lufthansa will be the first of the two Spairliners partners’ sister airlines to receive its A380s by early 2008, with Air France due to receive its first two aircraft at the start of the 2008 summer season.Together the two airlines account for 25 of the 159 A380s on order.
Bassil has previously said that the company planned to be ready to launch Spairliners services before Singapore Airlines begins A380 operations – although this would depend on which customers it secured.
“With the recent delays, companies have had a little more time to decide, it’s true, but it is an important issue for them to decide. There
are many different generations and new generations of components on the aircraft, with an entirely different level of complexity in terms of
size, in terms of power level, and in terms of the hydraulic system’s increased pressure,” says Bassil.
Spairliners plans to acquire and manage its own pool of A380 components,dispatching them via an air freighted spares distribution network using Paris Charles de Gaulle as the hub.
AIMEE TURNER / LONDON
Source: Flight International
