MAX KINGSLEY-JONES & MICHAEL PHELAN / LONDON
The A380 freighter looks great on paper, but can Airbus really build an aircraft on time and on budget that lives up to its promise?
If the sales literature is to be believed, Airbus has created the world's greatest cargo aircraft with the A380-800 freighter. It has 29% more range and 33% greater payload than the current industry standard, the Boeing 747-400F, and a direct operating cost (DOC) per tonne that is 20-30% lower. "It is the industry's new benchmark," says Airbus.
Emirates, the first customer to order the A380 freighter, says the decision to buy the aircraft was partly due to its strong economics. FedEx Express, the other airline customer, sees the 150,000kg (339,400lb) payload aircraft as an ideal bulk carrier to ply trunk cargo routes from its regional hubs in Europe and Asia to its main US hub in Memphis, Tennessee. The other A380F customer, International Lease Finance, ordered the cargo model seeing opportunities to place the aircraft on operating lease with existing A380 customers or the larger supplemental cargo carriers.
Naturally, Boeing disputes most of Airbus's claims for the A380, although it concedes that the giant aircraft has the upper hand in cargo capacity and payload capability. "We think that the 747-400F will be 3-4% better in DOC per tonne," Boeing says, adding that Airbus is traditionally "very optimistic in predicting performance of its aircraft".
The 17 orders for the cargo A380 variant represent just under 20% of the total sales of 97 aircraft to date. This means that Airbus is on track with its long-term forecast, which predicts a market for around 300 new large freighters (with a payload of more than 80t) over the next 20 years, which is about 20% of the European manufacturer's forecast for the entire large-aircraft market.
Boeing sees things differently. It is generally more pessimistic than Airbus in its predictions for long-term large-aircraft demand, putting the size of the 500-plus passenger market at 330 aircraft, compared to Airbus's forecast of 1,200 units. However, the US manufacturer is more optimistic on the cargo side, estimating demand for new freighters of 747 size and larger at 220 aircraft - much nearer to the Airbus estimate.
Design effort
Airbus says the freighter version has been central to the design effort for the A380 from the start. Marie-Ange Plancq, the European company's A380 senior marketing analyst, says a number of key cargo operators were involved in helping define the freighter as part of the A380 customer "workshops". She says: "Cargo airlines like Atlas Air and FedEx, as well as airlines with freight arms such as Air France, Emirates, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines, have been involved since 1996. It has been designed as a general cargo aircraft, not as an express packages carrier."
One aspect of freighters developed from double-deck passenger airliners such as the 747 is the positioning of the cockpit on the upper deck to enable a nose cargo door to be installed. Although the 747's nose cargo door cannot accept maximum-height pallets (due to the lower ceiling at the front of the aircraft where the cockpit floor intrudes), it is useful for loading long items of cargo of up to 12m (39ft) that cannot be loaded through the 747's side cargo door aft.
Plancq says that a nose door was considered for the A380, but would have compromised the position of the flightdeck (which is on a mezzanine level between the two passenger decks). "After weighing up the cost in weight and drag penalties, [ie cockpit position] it was decided we would only accommodate standard size pallets," she says.
With an in-service target of mid-2008 - more than two years after the passenger version - definition of the A380 freighter is continuing. As proposed, the basic aircraft will have a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 590,000kg (30,000kg more than the passenger model). Its range with a 150t payload will be 10,360km (5,600nm). "The freighter will have reinforced structure - thicker wing skins and stronger landing gear - to cater for the increased weight, but will otherwise be similar to the passenger model," says Plancq. The increased weights will be incorporated into the passenger model to create an extended range -800R and is likely to provide the foundation for a planned -900 stretched passenger variant. Airbus is also proposing several different operating options of the basic freighter, with increased payload and range capabilities. An increased payload version will be able to lift 158,000kg, but with its range limited to 5,550km. The MTOW would be restricted to 540,000kg, while the maximum zero fuel weight (MZFW) would be increased to 410,000kg from the baseline 402,000kg.
Airbus is also offering a longer-range version, with MTOW increased to 600,000kg, but with cargo capacity reduced to 127,000kg. This would allow the aircraft to fly 12,765km with a 127,000kg payload, or 15,725km with 93,000kg of cargo and a 42,000 litre (11,080 USgal) capacity additional centre fuel tank. Plancq says that these options would be available at service entry without structural modifications, describing them as "technical trade-offs". She says the aircraft "has enough structural margin to cope with the MTOW increase without modifications or operating restrictions".
Looking further ahead, Plancq says that the A380F MTOW could be increased to 650,000kg "on current design principles", although this weight would obviously require significant structural reinforcements. Airbus says it is not yet planning growth versions beyond 600,000kg.
The freighter's increased weight requires higher thrust ratings on the A380's General Electric Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance GP7200 and Rolls-Royce Trent 900 powerplants. The engines will be rated at 76,500lb (340kN) on the freighter, 13% more than on the initial passenger model.
Although the cargo door configurations are still being finalised, the current specification incorporates a 4.27m wide x 2.87m high (168 x 103in) maindeck door aft of the wing, and a 3.68 x 2.24m upper deck door in the forward fuselage. "The positions enable loading at both doors simultaneously," says Plancq.
The sill of the maindeck door is 5.1m above the ground and can be serviced by existing cargo loaders, says Plancq. However, the upper deck door, which is 8m above the ground, will need an all-new design of loader. "We are discussing the production of a new loader with various handling equipment manufacturers," says Plancq, who adds that the new design will be able to undertake main and upper deck loading of the A380 and will also be compatible with the 747 freighter.
Greater height
The A380's main and upper decks have been optimised for the cargo role, says Plancq. "The main deck vertical height is 100mm (4in) greater than on the passenger version, to provide greater height for the pallets." This increase is achieved because the main deck floor will be slightly lower and the ceiling slightly higher than that of the passenger variant.
This is achieved through the removal of the main deck floor's seat rails and their connectors, and a thinner upper deck ceiling. The upper deck floor remains at the same level as that of the passenger variant - the stronger aluminium floor structure is thinner than the composite floor in the passenger aircraft. The main deck is compatible with 96in (2.4m) high pallets.
The upper deck is designed to take 82in-high pallets. "These pallets will have a new contour to fit inside the shape of upper deck fuselage, but a standard 96 x 125in base," says Plancq.
Plancq says that conversion of ex-passenger aircraft to freighters in the latter stages of their operational lives has been taken into account during the design, but says that a converted freighter will not have the same capabilities as a new-build cargo aircraft.
Various cargo configurations are available, but in a "maximised volume layout" the upper deck can accommodate 25 contoured 96 x 125 x 82in pallets; the maindeck has room for 33 pallets sized 96 x 125 x 9in and the belly hold can house 13 lower-deck pallets sized 96 x 125 x 64in. This gives the A380F a total volume of 1,134m3 (40,048ft3) - 54% greater than the 747-400F, says Plancq. In a general freighter layout, Plancq says that the A380F's capacity is 948m3 - 28% greater than the 747-400F.
As well as its capacity and payload advantages over the 747, Plancq believes that operators will be attracted by the A380F's 10,360km range. "This will enable operators to fly non-stop with a full payload from Europe to Asia, for example from London to Hong Hong - the 747-400F can't do this." Plancq says other key routes for the A380F will be Europe-USA and transpacific from the USA to Asia.
The current plan calls for the first A380F to fly in mid-2007 and enter service around 12 months later with Emirates. Two of the three launch customers - Emirates and FedEx - have specified the GP7200 engine for their fleets, so initial A380s will be equipped with this powerplant.
Noise compliance
Although it has been a design aim of the passenger model to achieve QC2 (the stringent London Heathrow noise measurement) at take-offs at maximum weight, this will not be achieved with the A380F. "We are Chapter 4 compliant at all weights, and can achieve QC2 at departure with the reduced take-off weight of 540,000kg," says Plancq.
In the battle of the brochures, the A380F seems to trump its rival in every department. The daunting task that now lies ahead for Airbus is to deliver those promises to its customers, on time and on budget.
Source: Flight International
