Airbus is continuing the battle to strip weight from the A380's airframe and acknowledges that at service entry, the manufacturer's empty weight of the aircraft will be about 2% (nearly 5t) greater than specification, which is 243.2t.
"The main changes in the pipeline are materials to be changed, for example in the wing," says senior vice-president A380 engineering, Robert Lafontan.
Some of these improvements are being grafted from the A380 Freighter, which is currently less than 1% heavier than specification, and will be progressively introduced in new-build passenger models.
"Could we advance some weight-saving items to take advantage of delivery delays?" asks Lafontan.
"This question has been asked of everyone, but this is not yet decided. The guarantees we have on payload range are met today," Lafontan adds.
Source: Flight International
