Airbus and Singapore Airlines have formally agreed the handover and service-entry dates for the A380, so for programme chief Mario Heinen and his team there are just six or seven weeks left to prepare for what will be the most high-profile airliner inaugural for a generation.
And there can be no excuses if the giant airliner does not make an exemplary service debut between Singapore and Sydney on 25 October. Airbus and SIA have had more than double the time originally budgeted to get the aircraft ready.
The A380 should have been delivered in the second quarter of 2006, but will now carry its first paying passengers – albeit through a charity auction – 18 months later than that original schedule.
The excitement that surrounded the A380’s first flight in April 2005 seems a world away after the wave of negative publicity that has surrounded the airliner due to its production delays. But the signals are now good that the programme is recovering well. That’s not just the Airbus line, but also what key – and sometimes critical – customers like Emirates say.
Airbus has used the period since December’s certification to scrutinise every detail of the A380 and ensure it is service ready. So the hotels in Singapore and Sydney can relax – they are unlikely to have to find 500 rooms for an A380 flight cancellation. At least not for the aircraft’s first service, anyway.
Source: Flight International
