Airbus A380 -uutisia

[Ilkka Mäkelä 1 216]

Hi Flyn ainoa A380 (9H-MIP) on saanut uuden, tosin ehkä vain yhden lennon mittaisen keikan. Kone lensi eilen Pariisista Dakariin Air Senegalin lukuun, koska Air Senegalin käyttämä A330neo makaa toistaiseksi Dakarin kentällä teknisen ongelman takia.

Lainaa

today (14 April), the giant double deck aircraft (9H-MIP) took off from Beja Airport, Portugal destination Paris CDG. According to information on the official website of CDG airport, the A380 will operate for Air Senegal. A technical issue of Air Senegal’s only Airbus A330 Neo (9H-SZN) – operated by Hi Fly Malta but stuck at the airport of Dakar – lies behind the assistance of the Portuguese ACMI specialist.

A one-off operation or also for the coming days depends on the availability of the Airbus A330 Neo. Air Senegal’s flight HC404 is scheduled to leave for Dakar at 19:50.

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/hi-fly/hi-flys-sole-airbus-a380-to-operate-for-air-senegal-on-flights-between-paris-and-dakar/

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/9h-mip

[Petri Lehtovirta 901]

British Airwaysin Alex Cruz on kertonut syistä, miksi BA valitsi vanhojen laajarunkokoneiden (747-400 & 777-200)  korvaajaksi Boeingin tarjouksen B777-9 koneista käytettyjen A380 koneiden sijaan. Koneiden uudelleenkonfigurointi BA:n käyttöön olisi vaatinut kalliit muutostyöt kabiiniin.
 

Lainaa

A crucial driver around the trading of second-hand A380s is the high cost associated with refurbishing the ultra-large aircraft's two passenger decks.
The cost to reconfigure the cabin to BA's specifications "can run to between $30-50 million" per aircraft. "To put that into a lease rate, all of a sudden it takes the aircraft completely out of the market."

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/package-of-newused-a380s-pitched-to-ba-was-uncompe-457443/

[Ilkka Mäkelä 1 216]

ANA on paljastanut kuvia ensimmäisen A380:nsä sisustuksesta:

Lainaa

ANA’s three A380s will have 520 seats. The four class configuration includes 383 economy class seats on the main deck. The upper deck will have 137 seats with eight in first class, 56 in business, and 73 in premium economy.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pictures-ana-reveals-new-a380-interior-457650/

[Matti Palosuo 373]

Termiittihommat alkaneet.

https://www.aerotime.aero/clement.charpentreau/22617-scrapping-of-first-a380s-has-begun 

Quote

Scrapping of first A380s has begun

The scrapping of two A380s stocked at Tarbes Lourdes airport has begun.

A photo published on Twitter on April 5, 2019, shows the two Superjumbos without engines and with a few missing parts including their cargo holds and a passenger door. 92% of the structure of an A380 can be recycled, reports Aero Telegraph.

9V-SKA and 9V-SKB were the third and fifth A380s to come out of Airbus assembly lines. They had been part of Singapore Airlines’ fleet since October 2007, leased by German Dr. Peters. Group, and have been stocked since June 2018 along with two others at Tarbes Lourdes Pyrénées Airport (LDE) in France, one of the biggest boneyard for unwanted aircraft in Europe.
 

 

 

[Matti Palosuo 373]

On 10/5/2017 at 2:24 PM, Juha Paulavuo said:

Tanskan ilmavoimien helikopteri on havainnut Air Francen koneen moottorin osia Grönlannissa, n. 150 km kaakkoon Paamiutista Grönlannin länsirannikolla

airlive.net

Reilu puolitoista vuotta sitten AF066 A380 Grönlannin yllä hajonneen moottorin tutkimukset ovat edelleen käynnissä. Oleellisia osia on kuitenkin edelleen löytämättä, mm. navan 220 kiloa painava keskiosa  on edelleen kateissa. Alkuperäistä 200 neliökilometrin etsintäaluetta on pyritty tarkemtamaan erilaisilla simulaatiolaskelmilla 12 neliökilometrin suuruiseksi. Etsintää ei ole helpottanut Grönlannin olosuhteet. Suuren osan vuodesta on pimeää ja osat ovat hautautuneet sataneeseen lumeen muutaman metrin syvyyteen. Viime vuonna aluetta tutkittiin Falcon 20:n alle sijoitetulla UHF-tutkalla. Lupaavat havainnot tutkittiin - no hits. Tällä hetkellä tutka-aineistoa analysoidaan huomattavasti suuremmalla laskentateholla, kuin mitä oli Grönlannissa paikan päällä käytettävissä. Samoin lumen ja jään alla-sisällä olevia kappaleita havaitsevat tutkat ja sensorit ovat vielä 'experimental' vaiheessa kehityksen alla. Myöhemmin tänä vuonna on tarkoitus tehdä uusia tarkempia etsintöjä uusimpaan teknologiaan nojautuen.

 https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/analysis-high-tech-radar-hunts-for-missing-a380-fan-458092/ 

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“Quite early in the investigation, it was established that the recovery of the missing parts, especially of the fan hub fragments, was the key to supporting the investigation of the cause of the engine failure,” says French investigation authority BEA. But the search has so far failed to locate the crucial components from the powerplant.

Flight-data recorder information enabled the probe to identify the time at which the incident occurred, and to demarcate a search area for the fragments. “This area turned out to be a wasteland covered with ice,” says BEA. The remote zone is situated some 150km south-east of Paamiut on the west coast of Greenland. It features an 800m-thick ice sheet and is exposed to cold and harsh weather conditions – as well as limited daylight – for much of the year.

...

Ballistic considerations taking into account the fragment weights and wind speeds, as well as snow effects, led to team to estimate that the fragments would be buried to a depth of 2-3m by spring 2018, after the first winter season. Airbus calculated hundreds of possible impact points using various ejection velocities and radial trajectories, aided by joint venture ArianeGroup. The US National Transportation Safety Board also carried out its own ballistic calculations. Overlapping the Airbus and NTSB calculations enabled a high-probability search area to be defined – a 12km² box, the southern 7km² of which is the “most promising”, says BEA.

Once a piece of debris is covered by snow it will not reappear on the surface, even after summer melting, owing to the dynamics of the ice system in the area, the inquiry states: “Snow will accumulate above the part with time, meaning that the longer it lies on site, the deeper under the snow it will be.”

Several techniques were considered for the second phase of the search. These included radar imagery, ground-penetrating radar, electromagnetic detection systems, and synthetic-aperture radar. Investigators have concentrated particularly on the latter of these options, using an airborne synthetic-aperture radar system designated SETHI. This system features X-band, L-band and UHF radar carried in underwing pods on a Dassault Falcon 20.

...

Six particular targets were identified for further examination by ground teams – examination which had to be conducted carefully, given the terrain and other environmental conditions – but BEA says none of the six produced positive results. 

“Even with 430km of search tracks analysed, it could not be certified that if the part had laid under those tracks, it would have been detected,” it adds.

But it states that ONERA has continued to process the radar images acquired, using greater computation facilities than those available on-site in Greenland. BEA adds: “The team considered it was necessary to test new sensors with a larger swath, and a more certain response, for potential new ground searches, later on in 2019.”
 

 

[Matti Palosuo 373]

Eilen sunnuntaina 26.05 China Southern Airlinesin lento CZ3101 Guangzhounista Pekingiin joutui kunnon raesateeseen matkalentokorkeudessa. Lentäjät pudottivat korkeuden 37100 jalasta 16700 jalkaan, millä korkeudella lensivät puolitoista tuntia perille Pekingiin.

Artikkelin kuvissa näkyy voimakkaasti säröilleet ohjaamon ikkunat. Vahinkoja lisäksi tutkan suojakupuun ja siipien etureunoihin. 

https://samchui.com/2019/05/27/china-southern-airlines-airbus-a380-receives-significant-hail-damage/#.XOxLaxiU80M 

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The aircraft, registered B-6140, was performing flight CZ3101 from Guangzhou to Beijing and was cruising at 37,100ft when it entered a nasty weather system.

Alerted to the sudden cracking of the windshields, the pilots initiated a rapid descent to 16,700ft where the aircraft remained in the air for a further 90 minutes on its way to Beijing before performing a safe landing.

Upon inspection, airport ground workers identified significant damage to the radome and leading edge surfaces. The damaged areas were quickly covered with sheet plastic and tape to prevent additional weather damage.

 

[Matti Palosuo 373]

Air Francella on pohdinnassa suunniteltua aikaisempi luopuminen A380 laivastosta. Mietinnässä on melko arvokkaan sisustuksen uusimisen tekemisen kannattavuus.

https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2019/06/22/air-france-retrofit-a380/ 

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Air France may not bother to upgrade its outdated premium cabins seats on the A380. The exorbitant price tag is difficult to justify. But that creates a serious problem for the carrier’s five-year plan and may lead to an accelerated retirement timeline.

Speaking to Air Transport World at the recent Paris Air Forum, Air France/KLM CEO Ben Smith noted that three A380s  are already slated for removal from service by 2021 and Air France may choose not to upgrade the remaining aircraft.

"The other seven have older seats and we’re in the middle of making the decision on how long those A380s will be staying in the Air France fleet and whether we should invest €30-€40 million ($33.8-$45.1 million) per aircraft in upgrading those seats."

Last November, Air France announced plans to return five leased A380s and retrofit the five it owns. Even then, the high price tag for retrofitting these aircraft invited a critical cost/benefit analysis as to the wisdom of this move. But at the time, the decision appeared final

 

 

[Matti Palosuo 373]

Myös Qatar Airways suunnittelee kymmene koneen A380 laivastosta luopumista. Vuosina 2014-18 vastaanotetuista koneista luovuttaisiin kymmenen vuoden ikäisinä ennen arvokkaita matkustamo päivityksiä ja D-checkiä.

https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2019/06/24/qatar-a380-retirement/ 

 

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Qatar Airways plans to retire its A380 fleet earlier than planned, joining a number of other airlines which do not see a long-term place for the Airbus superjumbo jet.

Never one to beat around the bush, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker made his intentions clear at the recent Paris Air Show to FlightGlobal:

"We feel that the aircraft does not have very long future in Qatar Airways‘ fleet. We would think about retiring those airplanes on their 10th anniversary, unless something untoward happens and we need them."

Qatar Airways began operating the A380 in 2014 and took delivery of its tenth and final A380 last year. Like Air France, Qatar Airways faces a difficult choice. The A380 is an outlier in the Qatar Airways fleet. Although it has been dubbed Qatar’s “flagship” aircraft, it does not features the carrier’s tremendous QSuite business class. It also is the only aircraft type in the fleet featuring first class.

A retrofit of the four-engine aircraft is extremely pricey and may not make sense as Qatar moves toward a fleet of more fuel-efficient two-engine aircraft.

Just as Air France is struggling over its A380 program, so is Qatar Airways. Right now, the carrier is leaning toward retiring its A380s rather than retrofit them andplace them under a heavy maintenance visit (the D-check, a process that can take up to 50,000 man-hours and up to two months to complete, must be done every decade).
 

 

[Ilkka Mäkelä 1 216]

9/30/2017 at 22.29, Tuomas Pietinen kirjoitti:

Air Francen A380-koneessa moottorihäiriö, melkoinen sellainen. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4936802/Air-France-jet-loses-engine-cover-SIX-MILES-high.html

http://www.lentoposti.fi/uutiset/air_francen_airbus_a380_superjumbon_moottori_hajosi_lennolla_atlantin_yll

Tuomas

Tutkijat ovat löytäneet osan kadoksissa olevista moottorinosista. Artikkelissa olevat kuvat kertovat asiasta lisää.:

Lainaa

Investigators searching snow-covered areas of Greenland for crucial engine parts from an Air France Airbus A380 have managed to recover some of the missing components.

"One of the sought-after engine parts was found," it says, adding that it will be sent to the USA to be examined by manufacturer Engine Alliance under BEA supervision.

The specific parts retrieved have yet to be confirmed but images released by the authority show a bladed disc being recovered from beneath deep snow.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pictures-a380-engine-parts-found-under-greenland-sn-459399/

[Ilkka Mäkelä 1 216]

Hi Fly on saanut uuden lyhytaikaisen vuokralaisen A380-koneelleen. Air Madagascar korvasi sillä 2 päivän aikana moottorihuollon tarpeessa olevia A340:iä.

Lainaa

Air Madagascar chartered Hi Fly's Airbus A380 on 30 June and 1 July to cover for unexpected maintenance of its A340s.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pictures-air-madagascar-uses-hi-fly-a380-to-cover-459448/

Muita Hi Fly:n A380-asiakkaita ovat olleet Air Austral, Norwegian ja Thomas Cook.

Lainaa

Portuguese charter operator Hi Fly has used its A380 – an ex-Singapore Airlines aircraft with registration 9H-MIP – to provide services for airlines including Air Austral, Norwegian and Thomas Cook since mid-2018.

 

[Ilkka Mäkelä 1 216]

7/1/2019 at 19.00, Ilkka Mäkelä kirjoitti:

Tutkijat ovat löytäneet osan kadoksissa olevista moottorinosista. Artikkelissa olevat kuvat kertovat asiasta lisää.:

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pictures-a380-engine-parts-found-under-greenland-sn-459399/

Video löytyneiden A380:n moottorista irronneiden osien nostosta lumen alta:

 

[Petri Lehtovirta 901]

6/23/2019 at 08.48, Matti Palosuo kirjoitti:

Air Francella on pohdinnassa suunniteltua aikaisempi luopuminen A380 laivastosta. Mietinnässä on melko arvokkaan sisustuksen uusimisen tekemisen kannattavuus.

https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2019/06/22/air-france-retrofit-a380/ 

 

 

Air France KLM:n johtoryhmä päätti, että A380 poistuu yhtiön käytöstä vuonna 2022.

 

Lainaa

 

The Air France-KLM Board of Directors approved several strategic decisions concerning the development of the Air France fleet, following a meeting on July 30, 2019.

- Retirement of the 10 A380s from the Air France fleet by 2022, and study of the replacement of A380s by new generation aircraft

 

 

https://www.airfranceklm.com/en/news/evolution-air-france-klm-fleet

[Ilkka Mäkelä 1 216]

Emiratesin A380:lle oltiin tekemässä A-huoltoa, kun tapahtui vahinko jossa kone pääsi putoamaan nokilleen avoimien laskutelineluukkujen varaan. Koneen nokka ja nokkaa ympäröivä runko kärsi vaurioita. Artikkelissa on kuva joka kertoo asiasta lisää.

Lainaa

Images circulating on social media purporting to have been taken at the scene show an A380 resting on its open nose-gear doors, having apparently dropped to the ground.

The aircraft has sustained damage to its radome, the upper half of which appears to have separated, while the gear doors and surrounding fuselage underside are badly deformed. The status of the nose-gear itself is unclear.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/emirates-a380-badly-damaged-during-a-check-mishap-460456/

[Ilkka Mäkelä 1 216]

Qantas päivittää A380-koneidensa sisustusta, ja ensimmäinen päivitetty koneyksilö aloittaa lennot Lontoo-Singapore-Sydney-reitillä 30. syyskuuta. Ehkä suurin muutos tulee bisnesluokkaan, jossa siirrytään 2-2-2-istuinjärjestelystä 1-2-1-järjestelyyn. Sisustusremontti on kestänyt 2 vuotta. Loput 11 koneyksilöä Qantas saa päivitettyä vuoden 2020 loppuun mennessä.

Lainaa

the first refurbished Qantas A380 flight is set to take off from London Heathrow on September 30, 2019, operating QF2 to Sydney via Singapore. The aircraft is registered VH-OQK and was sighted leaving the aircraft conversion facility at Dresden last weekend.

On the main deck, in the 341 seat economy cabin, where the majority of passengers will be, improvements are pared back to better cushioning, better IFE, and faster WiFi.

For those who turn left at the aircraft door, 14 lucky first-class passengers can lounge across the ocean in considerable comfort and style. First-class reportedly hasn’t been changed too much, merely ‘refreshed’ with a new cabin look and improved seat amenities.

The main changes will be seen upstairs in business class, where 70 passengers can say goodbye to the dreaded 2-2-2 A380 business class seating layout and kick back in a far more civilised 1-2-1 layout. Those Skybed II seats that were so very 2008 are being replaced with the lauded Qantas Business Suites.

https://simpleflying.com/qantas-refurbished-airbus-a380/

[Petri Lehtovirta 901]

5/9/2019 at 00.44, Matti Palosuo kirjoitti:

Termiittihommat alkaneet.

https://www.aerotime.aero/clement.charpentreau/22617-scrapping-of-first-a380s-has-begun

Keväällä kävin katsomassa tätä "hautausmaata",

toinen paikalla ollut A380 oli sopivasti aidan vieressä. Kyseessä oli Ex Singapore Airlinesin 9V-SKE, myöhemmältä tunnukseltaan 9H-DPE. C/N 010

[Ilkka Mäkelä 1 216]

3/29/2019 at 13.19, Ilkka Mäkelä kirjoitti:

ANA:n toinen A380 on tullut ulos maalaamosta. Merikilpikonnateema jatkuu, mutta väri on tällä kertaa vihreä (ks. kuvat). Kolmannesta A380:stä tulee oranssi.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pictures-airbus-shows-off-second-ana-a380-457008/

ANA:n kolmas ja viimeinen A380 on tullut ulos maalaamosta merikilpikonna-aiheisena, ks. kuvat:

Lainaa

All Nippon Airways’ third and final Airbus A380 (JA383A) has been painted in a special “Flying Honu”-livery. The aircraft will be delivered to the Japanese airline next March and will enter into the airline’s network as from June 2020. 

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/ana-all-nippon-airways/third-and-final-airbus-a380-for-ana-all-nippon-airways-has-been-painted-into-special-flying-honu-livery/

[Petri Lehtovirta 901]

Viimeisen kokoonpantavan A380:n runko on saapunut Toulouseen loppukokoonpanoon, kone menee Emiratesille, serial luultavasti #272 (?)

 

 

[Ilkka Mäkelä 1 216]

9/25/2019 at 12.54, Ilkka Mäkelä kirjoitti:

Qantas päivittää A380-koneidensa sisustusta, ja ensimmäinen päivitetty koneyksilö aloittaa lennot Lontoo-Singapore-Sydney-reitillä 30. syyskuuta. Ehkä suurin muutos tulee bisnesluokkaan, jossa siirrytään 2-2-2-istuinjärjestelystä 1-2-1-järjestelyyn. Sisustusremontti on kestänyt 2 vuotta. Loput 11 koneyksilöä Qantas saa päivitettyä vuoden 2020 loppuun mennessä.

https://simpleflying.com/qantas-refurbished-airbus-a380/

Qantasin A380-sisustusuudistus jatkuu epidemiasta huolimatta. Kolmen koneen kaikkien neljän luokan istuimet on jo uusittu, ja seuraavat kolme ovat jo uudistettavina. Loput 6 konetta uusitaan tulevien kuukausien aikana.

Lainaa

Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) still plans to complete the cabin retrofit of all twelve A380-800s by the end of 2020, or early 2021 in case of manufacturer delays, despite the ongoing grounding of the airline and the uncertain future of its large-widebody fleet, the Executive Traveller has reported.

The Australian airline has already retrofitted three A380-800s with new passenger seats across all four classes. A further three are currently undergoing cabin outfitting (two in Dresden and one in Abu Dhabi Int'l). The remaining six are due to undergo this process in the coming months.

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/89154

[Lari Nylund 161]

Airbus A380 rahtiversiota pukkaa...

http://www.lentoposti.fi/uutiset/lufthansa_technik_yli_40_lentoyhti_t_haluaa_rahtikonversioita_ty_n_alla_jo_a380_800f

[Ilkka Mäkelä 1 216]

Yksi yhtiö, eli China Southern, käyttää vielä ainakin kahta tai kolmea A380:tä reittilennoilla, mutta on vaikea selvittää, onko koneissa matkustajia vai rahtia matkustamoissa:

Lainaa

According to flight-tracking sites, China Southern is still sending A380s to Europe, North America and Australia, on regularly scheduled flights. Since China is barring foreigners from entering the country and leisure travel worldwide has essentially stopped, those A380s may be filled with cargo more than passengers. After all, using passenger jets as freighters is one way that airlines try to make money these days, as revenue has dried up.

https://thepointsguy.co.uk/news/a380-grounded-except-for-one-airline/

[Lari Nylund 161]

Huolestuttavien Airbus A380-uutisten joukkoon hieman toivoa herättävääkin uutisointia simpleflying.com sivustolta.

British Airwaysin Airbus A380 G-XLEH lennettiin torstaina 21.5.2020 Lontoosta Manilaan, Lufthansa Technik maintenancen palveluksien pariin. 

https://simpleflying.com/british-airways-airbus-a380-manila/

* * *

Mitä olen itse viime vuosina havainnut Manilassa, niin yleensä BA A380 on siirretty Manilaan siirtolentona Singaporesta operoituaan ensin lennon sinne ja samalla toinen kone on palannut huollosta lentämään paluulennon. 

[Juhani Hämäläinen 38]

Emirates on ottamassa vielä kolme A380 ja perumassa viisi konetta.

https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/90891

[Ilkka Mäkelä 1 216]

Emiratesin Tim Clark kertoo, että Emirates aikoo edelleen pitää suurimman osan 115 koneen A380-laivastostaan, vaikkakin monta niistä tulevat olemaan varastoituina vuoteen 2022 asti, jolloin lentomatkustus alkaa Clarkin mukaan saavuttaa aikaisempaa tasoaan.

Lainaa

Emirates President Sir Tim Clark says the airline will keep most of its 115-strong Airbus A380 fleet, although many will remain grounded until 2022, when he sees air travel beginning to return to pre-coronavirus levels.

The Gulf airline has been reviewing "costs and resourcing" with the possibility that almost half of its A380s could be stood down in an "accelerated retirement" plan for the superjumbos, which Emirates previously planned to continue flying through the end of the decade.

However, Clark now says "we're not getting rid of any of them, apart from I think three that are coming out," although he qualifies that with all 115 A380s now grounded "there are going to be a number that will have to go into long-term storage" until 2022.

https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/emirates-keeps-airbus-a380s

[Lari Nylund 161]

SimpleFlying.com: "Emirates A380 Pilots Can’t Make Certain Approaches In Australia"

https://simpleflying.com/emirates-a380-approaches-australia/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

[Lari Nylund 161]

Emiratesin kerrotaan olevan poistamassa laivastostaan ensimmäistä Airbus A380 konetta, rekisteriltään A6-EDB. Kone on tullut yhtiölle lokakuussa 2008 ja viimeisin havainto siitä on Dubaissa kokovalkoisena. 

Asiasta uutisoi kuvien kera SimpleFlying-sivusto. 

https://simpleflying.com/emirates-first-airbus-a380-retirement/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook