Tag Archives: Airbus

Image courtesy BEA France’s Bureau of Investigations and Analysis’ (BEA) submitted its final report on the crash of Air France flight AF-447 flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, killing all 228 passengers and crew on-board. The final report essentially re-states what has already been released till date. The crash commenced with ice crystals blocking the pitot tubes, sending false …

Boeing has achieved some peace of mind, by making the first flight of Qatar Airways’ first 787 Dreamliner, just ahead of the upcoming Farnborough air show. The airline’s capricious CEO, Mr. Akbar Al Baker, is known for his non-diplomatic criticism, often seen as tantrums, of airframe manufacturers, especially at air shows. Boeing’s competitor Airbus, was at the receiving end of …

Following fellow ASEAN national carriers, Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways International will become the ninth operator of the Airbus A380 superjumbo when it receives the first of its six ordered A380 aircraft later this year. Enjoy the three photos from Airbus, of the Thai A380 leaving the paint shop in Hamburg resplendent in its beautiful “smooth as silk” …

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and Airbus revealed a special celebration livery on the national carrier’s first A380 ahead of the aircraft’s entry-into-service next week on the Kuala Lumpur-London Heathrow route. The livery was designed by MAS specifically for it its new A380 flagship and was applied post-delivery by Airbus in Toulouse. MAS has ordered six A380s with a seating for 494 …

Richard Branson promoted, British carrier, Virgin Atlantic will introduce a new Airbus A330 aircraft equipped with a re-designed and upgraded Upper Class (business class) Cabin National, on its London Heathrow New Delhi service starting July 11, 2012. The state of art cabin boasts of the longest bed in business class in a modified herringbone layout, a 2.7 meters long bar …

Norwegian Air Shuttle AS which operates under the brand Norwegian has confirmed an order, earlier announced in January, with Airbus S.A.S. The order makes Norwegian a new Airbus customer, and as well, one of the biggest A320neo customers. In January this year, Norwegian had also announced a firm order for 100 737 MAX airplanes which was developed by Boeing in …

AirAsia Japan, a 67%-33% joint venture between Japan’s ANA Group, which owns All Nippon Airways, and Malaysia’s AirAsia has taken delivery of its first Airbus A320 aircraft in Toulouse, France. The Japanese low cost carrier will start commercial services on August 1st from Tokyo’s Narita International Airport to the Japanese cities of Sapporo and Fukuoka, and from August 3rd to …

Airbus has delivered to national carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS) the first of its ordered six Airbus A380 superjumbos. Malaysia Airlines becomes the eighth A380 carrier. The MAS A380 has 494 seats in a three class configuration with 8 seats in first class, 66 in business, and 420 in economy. The first class is in a 1-2-1 configuration and boasts the …

MSN 5000 The first Airbus A350 XWB static airframe fuselage roll-out at the A350 Final Assembly Line in Toulouse, France.

Some high resolution photos of the first Airbus A380 super jumbo destined for Malaysia Airlines in the new livery.

Airbus has produced the first new-build A320 with Sharklets. Photographed at its roll-out in Toulouse, MSN 5098 will be one of several A320 family aircraft in the certification flight-test campaign starting in May this year and lasting around 600 flight hours.

Earlier this week, Boeing released some of the confirmed design details for its re-engined 737 MAX narrow-body program. The new series of aircraft is expected to retain significant commonality with its predecessor, the Boeing 737NG program, however unlike Airbus’ competing A320neo re-engine program, there are tangible changes being made between the 737NG and 737MAX due to the increased engine diameter …

If you can get away from the self-promotion in this 9.5 minute video, it is an interesting fantasy on what flight could look like in the 2030~2050 time frame, and how technologies being developed today, military and civil, will play a part. In this 3.5 minute video the cabin of the concept plane. The one question that is asked in …

The first Airbus A350XWB entered the final assembly line at Toulouse earlier this week. Enjoy the photos which are courtesy Airbus S.A.S. Have a great weekend.

Recently Airbus S.A.S. completed the final assembly of MSN (manufacturer’s serial number) 087 Thai Airway’s first A380 superjumbo. Here is a time lapse video showing the event. The national carrier is scheduled to receive delivery of the airline this year. Thai Airways will become the ninth customer worldwide to operate the behemoth, and is expected to deploy the A380 on …

The first Airbus A380 of national carrier Malaysia Airlines was painted recently. In this time lapse, video watch the A380 in the paint shop. Observe the subtle changes between the existing livery and the new livery on the A380. Doesn’t the font look awfully similar to neighbouring Singapore Airlines? What are your views? Share a comment.

The first A380 for Thai Airways International took off for its maiden flight on 6th March following completion of the airframe assembly and system tests in Toulouse, France. Click on the image for a high resolution view

The engine for Airbus’ new A350 XWB jetliner made its successful maiden flight on 18 February, 2012. Installed on the A380 flying testbed aircraft, the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB powerplant was tested for performance and fuel efficiency during an airborne evaluation that lasted more than five hours. Click on the picture below for a high-resolution view.

Last Thursday, Airbus S.A.S. delivered to New Delhi based low fare carrier, IndiGo’s 50th A320 aircraft, which has been registered with the tail number VT-IEP. See picture here. Here is a video showing the construction of an IndiGo A320.

SouthEast Asian low cost carrier AirAsia taken added the 100th Airbus A320 narrowbody aircraft to its fleet. The aircraft, registration 9M-AQH has been painted with a special dragon livery in celebration of the current Chinese Year of the Dragon, which is also that of AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes, and coincidentally myself. A team of 20 painters used 600 litres of …