AIRBUS A300 AIRCRAFT HISTORY

AIRBUS A300 AIRCRAFT HISTORY FACTS AND PHOTOS

The Airbus A300 Airliner Information and Facts

The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody aircraft Launched in 1972 as the worlds first twin-engined widebody it was the first product of the Airbus consortium of European aerospace companies wholly owned today by EADS The A300 ceased production in July 2007 along with the smaller A310 Freighter sales for which the A300 competed are to be fulfilled by a new A330-200F derivative

Development historyThe mission requirements were given in 1966 by Frank Kolk an American Airlines executive for a Boeing 727 replacement on busy short- to medium-range routes such as US transcontinental flights His brief included a passenger capacity of 250 to 300 seated in a twin-aisle configuration and fitted with two engines with the capability of carrying full passengers without penalty from high-altitude airports like Denver American manufacturers responded with widebody trijets the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar as twinjets were banned from many routes by the FAA

French president Charles de Gaulle resented the US domination of civil aviation and wanted a European airliner that could compete with American designs[citation needed] Concorde was part of the answer designed for intercontinental routes the other was the A300 designed to meet Kolks US domestic requirements

In September 1967 the British French and German governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to start development of the 300-seat Airbus A300 An earlier announcement had been made in July 1967 but at that time the announcement had been clouded by the British Governments support for the Airbus which coincided with its refusal to back British Aircraft Corporations (BAC) proposed competitor a development of the BAC 1-11 mdash despite a preference for the latter expressed by British European Airways (BEA)

In the months following this agreement both the French and British governments expressed doubts about the aircraft Another problem was the requirement for a new engine to be developed by Rolls-Royce the RB207 In December 1968 the French and British partner companies (Sud Aviation and Hawker Siddeley) proposed a revised configuration the 250-seat Airbus A250 Renamed the A300B the aircraft would not require new engines reducing development costs To attract potential US customers American General Electric CF6-50 engines powered the A300 instead of the British RB207 The British government was upset and withdrew from the venture however the British firm Hawker-Siddeley stayed on as a contractor developing the wings for the A300 which were pivotal in later versions impressive performance from short domestic to long intercontinental flights[citation needed] (Years later through British Aerospace the UK re-entered the consortium)

Airbus Industrie was formally set up in 1970 following an agreement between Aeacuterospatiale (France) the antecedents to Deutsche Aerospace (Germany) They were to be joined by the Spanish CASA in 1971 Each company would deliver its sections as fully equipped ready-to-fly items

In 1972 the A300 made its maiden flight The first production model the A300B2 entered service in 1974 Initially the success of the consortium was poor but by 1979 there were 81 aircraft in service It was the launch of the A320 in 1981 that established Airbus as a major player in the aircraft market mdash the aircraft had over 400 orders before it first flew compared to 15 for the A300 in 1972

The A300 was the first airliner to use just-in-time manufacturing techniques Complete aircraft sections were manufactured by consortium partners all over Europe These were airlifted to the final assembly line at Toulouse-Blagnac by a fleet of Boeing 377-derived Aero Spacelines Super Guppy aircraft Originally devised as a way to share the work among Airbuss partners without the expense of two assembly lines it turned out to be a more efficient way of building airplanes (more flexible and reduced costs) as opposed to building the whole airplane at one site This fact was not lost on Boeing which over thirty years later decided to manufacture the Boeing 787 in this manner using outsized 747s to ferry wings and other parts from Japan

The A300 cemented European cooperation in aviation Its first flight was commemorated on a French three franc stamp

Airbus partners employed the latest technology some derived from the Concorde On entry into service in 1974 the A300 was very advanced and influenced later subsonic airliner designs The technological highlights include

Advanced wings by de Havilland (later BAE Systems) with supercritical airfoil section for economical performance advanced aerodynamically efficient flight controls 222-inch diameter circular fuselage section for 8-abreast passenger seating and wide enough for 2 LD3 cargo containers side-by-side Structures made from metal billets reducing weight First airliner to be fitted with wind shear protection Advanced autopilots capable of flying the aircraft from climb-out to landing Electrically controlled braking system Later A300s incorporate other advanced features such as

2-man crew by automating the flight engineers functions an industry first Glass cockpit flight instruments Extensive use of composites for an aircraft of its era Center-of-gravity control by shifting around fuel The first airliner to use wingtip fences for better aerodynamics All these made the A300 a substitute for the widebody trijets such as McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 for short to medium routes On the early versions Airbus used the same engines and similar major systems as the DC-10

After the launch sales of the A300 were weak for some years with most orders going to airlines that had an obligation to favor the domestically made product mdash notably Air France and Lufthansa At one stage Airbus had 16 whitetail A300s ndash completed but unsold aircraft ndash sitting on the tarmac Indian Airlines was the worlds first domestic airline to purchase the A300 These have now been retired

In 1977 US carrier Eastern Air Lines leased four A300s as an in-service trial Frank Borman ex-astronaut and the then CEO was impressed that the A300 consumed 30 less fuel than his fleet of Tristars and then ordered 23 of the type This was followed by an order from Pan Am From then on the A300 family sold rather well eventually reaching the current total of 858 on order or delivered

The aircraft found particular favour with Asian airlines being bought by Japan Air System Korean Air Thai Airways International Singapore Airlines Malaysia Airlines Philippine Airlines Garuda Indonesia China Airlines Pakistan International Airlines Indian Airlines Trans Australia Airlines and many others As Asia did not have restrictions similar to the FAA 60-minutes rule for twin-engine airliners which existed at the time Asian airlines used A300s for routes across Bay of Bengal and South China Sea

In 1977 the A300B4 became the first ldquoETOPS compliantrdquo aircraft ndash its high performance and safety standards qualified it for Extended Twin Engine Operations over water providing operators with more versatility in routing By 1981 Airbus was growing rapidly with over 300 aircraft sold and options for 200 more planes for over forty airlines Alarmed by the success of the A300 Boeing responded with the new Boeing 767

The A300 provided Airbus the experience of manufacturing and selling airliners competitively The basic fuselage of the A300 was later stretched (A330 and A340) shrunk (A310) or modified into derivatives (A300-600ST Beluga Super Transporter)

The A300 has reached the end of production and the last A300 freighter has been completed and delivered The largest freight operator of the A300 is FedEx which as of January 2006 had 95 A300310 aircraft United Parcel Service (UPS) also operates freighter versions of the A300 The final version was the A300-600R and is rated for 180-minute ETOPS The A300 has enjoyed renewed interest in the secondhand market for conversion to freighters The freighter versions ndash either new-build A300-600s or converted ex-passenger A300-600s A300B2s and B4s ndash account for most of the world freighter fleet after the Boeing 747 freighter

In March 2006 Airbus announced the closure of the A300A310 line making them the first Airbus aircraft to be discontinued The final production A300 made its initial flight on 18 April 2007[3] and was delivered on 12 July 2007 It was an A300F freighter for FedEx Airbus has announced a support package to keep A300s flying commercially until at least 2025

A300B1 Only two were built the first prototype and a second aircraft which was later sold for airline service (to Air Algeacuterie) and has now been scrapped It has accommodation for 259 passengers with a maximum weight of 132000 kg and two General Electric CF6-50A engines of 220 kN thrust A300B2 The first production version Powered by CF6 or Pratt amp Whitney JT9D engines of between 227 and 236 kN thrust it entered service with Air France in May 1974 A300B2-100 137 Metric Ton MTOW A300B2-200 142 Metric Ton MTOW with Kruger flaps A300B2-300 increased Maximum Landing WeightMaximum Zero Fuel Weight A300B4 The major production version Features a center fuel tank for increased fuel capacity (47500 kg) Production of the B2 and B4 totaled 248 A300B4-100 1575 Metric Ton MTOW A300B4-200 165 Metric Ton MTOW A300B4-200FF An A300 with a forward-facing crew compartment The worlds first 2-crew widebody airliner Includes some of the A310s and A300-600s digital avionics First saw service with Garuda in 1982 further customers were VASP Tunisair and Kar-AirFinnair A300B4-600 Referred to as the A300-600 See Below A300C4 Convertible freighter version with a large cargo door on the port side First delivered to South African Airways in October 1982

A300F4-203 Freighter version of the A300B4-200 First delivery occurred in 1986 but only very few were built as the A300F4-200 was soon replaced by the more capable A300-600F (official designation A300F4-600F) A300-600 Officially designated A300B4-600 this version is the same length as the B2 and B4 but has increased space because it uses the A310 rear fuselage and tail It has higher power CF6-80 or Pratt amp Whitney PW4000 engines and entered service in 1983 with Saudi Arabian Airlines A total of 313 A300-600s (all versions) have been sold A300-600 (Official designation A300B4-600) The baseline model of the -600 series A300-620C (Official designation A300C4-620) A convertible freighter version First delivery December 1985 A300-600F (Official designation A300F4-600) The freighter version of the baseline -600 A300-600R (Official designation A300B4-600R) The increased range -600 achieved by an additional trim fuel tank in the tail First delivery in 1988 to American Airlines all A300s built since 1989 (freighters included) are -600Rs Japan Airlines took delivery of the last new-built passenger A300 an A300-622R in November 2002 A300-600RF (Official designation A300F4-600R) The freighter version of the -600R All A300s delivered between November 2002 and July 12 2007 (last ever A300 delivery) were A300-600RFs A300-600ST Commonly referred to as the Beluga or Airbus Super Transporter these five airframes are used by Airbus to ferry parts between the companys disparate manufacturing facilities thus enabling workshare distribution They replaced the four Aero Spacelines Super Guppys previously used by Airbus A300B10 (A310) Introduced a shorter fuselage a new higher aspect ratio wing smaller tail and two crew operation It is available in standard -200 and the Extended range -300 with 9600 km range in both passenger and full cargo versions It is also available as a military tankertransport serving the Canadian Forces and Luftwaffe Sales total 260 although five of these (ordered by Iraqi Airways) were never built

Airbus A300

A300 redirects here For the bomber see Aero A300

Airbus A300

A300 middot A310 middot A320 middot A330 middot A340 middot A350 middot A380

Olympic Airlines A300B4-600R

Type Airliner

Manufacturer Airbus

Maiden flight 28 October 1972

Introduction 30 May 1974 with Air France

Primary users FedEx ExpressUPS AirlinesAmerican AirlinesJapan Airlines

Produced 1974-2007

Number built 561

Variants A300-600ST BelugaAirbus A310

The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody aircraft Launched in 1972 as the worlds first twin-engined widebody it was the first product of the Airbus consortium of European aerospace companies wholly owned today by EADS The A300 ceased production in July 2007 along with the smaller A310 Freighter sales for which the A300 competed are to be fulfilled by a new A330-200Fderivative[1]

Contents

1 Development history 2 Technology 3 In-service 4 Variants 5 Specifications 6 A300 Deliveries 7 Incidents 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

Development history

The mission requirements were given in 1966 by Frank Kolk an American Airlines executive for aBoeing 727 replacement on busy short- to medium-range routes such as US transcontinental flights His brief included a passenger capacity

of 250 to 300 seated in a twin-aisle configuration and fitted with two engines with the capability of carrying full passengers without penalty from high-altitude airports like Denver American manufacturers responded with widebody trijets the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar as twinjets were banned from many routes by the FAA

French president Charles de Gaulle resented the US domination of civil aviation and wanted a European airliner that could compete with American designs[citation

needed] Concorde was part of the answer designed for intercontinental routes the other was the A300 designed to meet Kolks US domestic requirements

In September 1967 the British French and German governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to start development of the 300-seat Airbus A300 An earlier announcement had been made in July 1967 but at that time the announcement had been clouded by the British Governments support for the Airbus which coincided with its refusal to back British Aircraft Corporations (BAC) proposed competitor a development of the BAC 1-11 mdash despite a preference for the latter expressed by British European Airways (BEA)

In the months following this agreement both the French and British governments expressed doubts about the aircraft Another problem was the requirement for a new engine to be developed by Rolls-Royce the RB207 In December 1968 the French and British partner companies (Sud Aviation and Hawker Siddeley) proposed a revised configuration the 250-seat Airbus A250 Renamed the A300B the aircraft would not require new engines reducing development costs To attract potential US customers American General Electric CF6-50 engines powered the A300 instead of the British RB207 The British government was upset and withdrew from the venture however the British firm Hawker-Siddeley stayed on as a contractor developing the wings for the A300 which were pivotal in later versions impressive performance from short domestic to long intercontinental flights[citation needed] (Years later through British Aerospace the UK re-entered the consortium)

Airbus Industrie was formally set up in 1970 following an agreement between Aeacuterospatiale (France) the antecedents to Deutsche Aerospace(Germany) They were to be joined by the Spanish CASA in 1971 Each company would deliver its sections as fully equipped ready-to-fly items

In 1972 the A300 made its maiden flight The first production model the A300B2 entered service in 1974 Initially the success of the consortium was poor but by 1979 there were 81 aircraft in service It was the launch of the A320 in 1981 that established Airbus as a major player in the aircraft market mdash the aircraft had over 400 orders before it first flew compared to 15 for the A300 in 1972

The A300 was the first airliner to use just-in-time manufacturing techniques Complete aircraft sections were manufactured by consortium partners all over Europe These were airlifted to the final assembly line at Toulouse-Blagnac by a fleet of Boeing 377-derived Aero Spacelines Super Guppy aircraft Originally devised as a way to share the work among Airbuss partners without the expense of two assembly lines it turned out to be a more efficient way of building airplanes (more flexible and reduced costs) as opposed to building the whole airplane at one site This fact was not lost on Boeing which over thirty years later decided to manufacture the Boeing 787 in this manner using outsized 747s to ferry wings and other parts from Japan

The A300 cemented European cooperation in aviation Its first flight was commemorated on a French three franc stamp

Technology

Airbus partners employed the latest technology some derived from the Concorde On entry into service in 1974 the A300 was very advanced and influenced later subsonic airliner designs The technological highlights include

Advanced wings by de Havilland (later BAE Systems) witho supercritical airfoil section for economical performanceo advanced aerodynamically efficient flight controls

222-inch diameter circular fuselage section for 8-abreast passenger seating and wide enough for 2 LD3 cargo containers side-by-side

Structures made from metal billets reducing weight First airliner to be fitted with wind shear protection Advanced autopilots capable of flying the aircraft from climb-out to landing Electrically controlled braking system

Later A300s incorporate other advanced features such as

2-man crew by automating the flight engineers functions an industry first Glass cockpit flight instruments Extensive use of composites for an aircraft of its era Center-of-gravity control by shifting around fuel The first airliner to use wingtip fences for better aerodynamics

All these made the A300 a substitute for the widebody trijets such as McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 for short to medium routes On the early versions Airbus used the same engines and similar major systems as the DC-10[citation needed]

In-service

After the launch sales of the A300 were weak for some years with most orders going to airlines that had an obligation to favor the domestically made product mdash notably Air France and Lufthansa At one stage Airbus had 16 whitetail A300s ndash completed but unsold aircraft ndash sitting on the tarmac Indian Airlines was the worlds first domestic airline to purchase the A300 Some are still flying today for the airline

In 1977 US carrier Eastern Air Lines leased four A300s as an in-service trial Frank Borman ex-astronaut and the then CEO was impressed that the A300 consumed 30 less fuel than his fleet of Tristars and then ordered 23 of the type This was followed by an order from Pan Am From then on the A300 family sold rather well eventually reaching the current total of 858 on order or delivered

The aircraft found particular favour with Asian airlines being bought by Japan Air System Korean Air Thai Airways International Singapore Airlines Malaysia Airlines Philippine Airlines Garuda Indonesia China Airlines Pakistan International Airlines Indian Airlines Trans Australia Airlines and many others As Asia did not have restrictions similar to the FAA 60-minutes rule for twin-engine airliners which existed at the time Asian airlines used A300s for routes across Bay of Bengal and South China Sea

In 1977 the A300B4 became the first ldquoETOPS compliantrdquo aircraft ndash its high performance and safety standards qualified it for Extended Twin Engine Operations over water providing operators with more versatility in routing By 1981 Airbus was growing rapidly with over 300 aircraft sold and options for 200 more planes for over forty airlines Alarmed by the success of the A300 Boeing

responded with the new Boeing 767

The A300 provided Airbus the experience of manufacturing and selling airliners competitively The basic fuselage of the A300 was later stretched (A330 and A340) shrunk (A310) or modified into derivatives (A300-600ST Beluga Super Transporter )

The A300 has reached the end of production and the last A300 freighter has been completed and delivered The largest freight operator of the A300 is FedEx which as of January 2006 had 95 A300310 aircraft United Parcel Service (UPS) also operates freighter versions of the A300 The final version was the A300-600R and is rated for 180-minute ETOPS The A300 has enjoyed renewed interest in the secondhand market for conversion to freighters The freighter versions ndash either new-build A300-600s or converted ex-passenger A300-600s A300B2s and B4s ndash account for most of the world freighter fleet after the Boeing 747 freighter

In March 2006 Airbus announced the closure of the A300A310 line[2] making them the first Airbus aircraft to be discontinued The final production A300 made its initial flight on 18 April 2007 [3] and was delivered on 12 July 2007 It was an A300F freighter for FedEx Airbus has announced a support package to keep A300s flying commercially until at least 2025

Variants

A300B1 Only two were built the first prototype and a second aircraft which was later sold for airline service (to Air Algeacuterie) and has now been scrapped It has accommodation for 259 passengers with a maximum weight of 132000 kg and two General Electric CF6-50A engines of 220 kN thrust

A300B2 The first production version Powered by CF6 or Pratt amp Whitney JT9D engines of between 227 and 236 kN thrust it entered service with Air France in May 1974

o A300B2-100 137 Metric Ton MTOWo A300B2-200 142 Metric Ton MTOW with Kruger flapso A300B2-300 increased Maximum Landing WeightMaximum Zero Fuel Weight

A300B4 The major production version Features a center fuel tank for increased fuel capacity (47500 kg) Production of the B2 and B4 totaled 248

o A300B4-100 1575 Metric Ton MTOWo A300B4-200 165 Metric Ton MTOWo A300B4-200FF An A300 with a forward-facing crew compartment The

worlds first 2-crew widebody airliner Includes some of the A310s and A300-600s digital avionics First saw service with Garuda in 1982 further customers were VASP Tunisair and Kar-AirFinnair

o A300B4-600 Referred to as the A300-600 See Belowo A300C4 Convertible freighter version with a large cargo door on the port side

First delivered to South African Airways in October 1982o A300F4-203 Freighter version of the A300B4-200 First delivery occurred in

1986 but only very few were built as the A300F4-200 was soon replaced by the more capable A300-600F (official designation A300F4-600F)

A300-600 Officially designated A300B4-600 this version is the same length as the B2 and B4 but has increased space because it uses the A310 rear fuselage and tail It has higher power CF6-80 or Pratt amp Whitney PW4000 engines and entered service in 1983 with Saudi Arabian Airlines A total of 313 A300-600s (all versions) have been sold

o A300-600 (Official designation A300B4-600) The baseline model of the -600 series

o A300-620C (Official designation A300C4-620) A convertible freighter version First delivery December 1985

o A300-600F (Official designation A300F4-600) The freighter version of the

baseline -600o A300-600R (Official designation A300B4-600R) The increased range -600

achieved by an additional trim fuel tank in the tail First delivery in 1988 to American Airlines all A300s built since 1989 (freighters included) are -600Rs Japan Airlines took delivery of the last new-built passenger A300 an A300-622R in November 2002

o A300-600RF (Official designation A300F4-600R) The freighter version of the -600R All A300s delivered between November 2002 and July 12 2007 (last ever A300 delivery) were A300-600RFs

o A300-600ST Commonly referred to as the Beluga or Airbus Super Transporter these five airframes are used by Airbus to ferry parts between the companys disparate manufacturing facilities thus enabling workshare distribution They replaced the four Aero Spacelines Super Guppys previously used by Airbus

A300B10 (A310) Introduced a shorter fuselage a new higher aspect ratio wing smaller tail and two crew operation It is available in standard -200 and the Extended range -300 with 9600 km range in both passenger and full cargo versions It is also available as a military tankertransport serving the Canadian Forces and Luftwaffe Sales total 260 although five of these (ordered by Iraqi Airways) were never built

Specifications

Measurement A300B4 A300-600R A300-600F

Seats 2-class 266 na

Length 5408 m or 177 3

Span 4485 m or 147 2

Height 1662 m or 54 6

Max cabin width 528 m

Fuselage diameter 564 m

Weight empty 90060 kg or 198132 lb 81900 kg or 180700 lb

MTOW 165000 kg or 364980 lb 170500 kg or 375100 lb

Take-off Run at MTOW NA 2324 m

Cruising speed mach 078

Maximum speed mach 086

Range fully loaded 6670 km or 3600 nm 2950 nm

Max fuel capacity 18000 USG or 68150 litres

Engines CF6-50C2 or JT9D-59A CF6-80C2 or PW4158

Cockpit Crew Three Two

A300 Deliveries

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

1994

1993

1992

1991

6 9 9 12 8 9 11 8 8 13 6 14 17 23 22 22 25

1990

1989

1988

1987

1986

1985

1984

1983

1982

1981

1980

1979

1978

1977

1976

1975

1974

19 24 17 11 10 16 19 19 46 38 39 26 15 15 13 8 4

Incidents

27 June 1976 Air France Flight 139 originating in Tel Aviv Israel and carrying 248 passengers and a crew of 12 took off from Athens Greece headed for Paris France The flight was hijacked by terrorists and was eventually flown to Entebbe Airport (now known as Entebbe International Airport) in Uganda

18 December 1983 Malaysia Airlines Flight 684 an Airbus A300B4 leased from Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) registration OY-KAA crashed short of the runway at Kuala Lumpur in bad weather while attempting to land on a flight from Singapore All 247 persons aboard escaped unharmed but the aircraft was destroyed in the resulting fire

3 July 1988 Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down by the USS Vincennes in the Persian Gulf after being mistaken for an attacking Iranian F-14 Tomcat killing all 290 passengers and crew[4]

28 September 1992 PIA Flight 268 a Pakistan International Airlines A300B4 crashed on approach near Kathmandu Nepal All 12 crew and 155 passengers were killed [5]

26 April 1994 China Airlines Flight 140 (Taiwan) crashed at the end of runway at Nagoya Japan killing all 15 crew and 249 of 264 passengers on board

26 September 1997 Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 crashed while landing at Medan Indonesia killing 234 aboard

16 February 1998 China Airlines Flight 676 (Taiwan) crashed into residential area close to CKS international airport near Taipei Taiwan All 196 people onboard were killed including Taiwans central bank president Six people on the ground were also killed

24 December 1999 Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 from Kathmandu Nepal to New Delhi was hijacked to Kandahar Afganistan 1 fatality

12 November 2001 American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens New York shortly after takeoff from John F Kennedy International Airport All 260 people on board were killed along with 5 people on the ground

22 November 2003 European Air Transport OO-DLL operating on behalf of DHL Aviation was hit by an SA-7 Grail missile after take-off from Baghdad International Airport The airplane lost hydraulic pressure and thus the controls After extending the landing gear to create more drag the crew piloted the plane using differences in engine thrust and landed the plane with minimal further damage The plane was repaired and offered for sale (incident summary and photos)

See also

Related development

List of Airbus A300 operators Airbus Beluga

A310 A330 A340 A350

Comparable aircraft

Boeing 767-200-300 Ilyushin Il-86

References

1 Airbus aims to fill freighter void with A330 derivative Flight International (2006-03-14)2 [[1] A300A310 Final Assembly to be completed by July 2007] Airbus SAS 7 March 20063 [[2] The last A300 makes its maiden flight] Airbus SAS 18 April 20074 Navy Missile Downs Iranian Jetliner Washington Post 1988-07-04 Retrieved on 2006-08-035 The Airbus A300

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to

Airbus A300

Official site Pictures Aircraft-Infonet - Airbus A300-600 Airbus A300 Production List A300 2-man crew modifications Certificated A300 variants worldwide

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Airbus aircraft

CivilA300 (Beluga) middot A310 middot A320 family (A318 A319 A320 A321) middot A330 middot A340 middot A350 middot A380

Military A310 MRTT middot A330 MRTT

In developmentproposed

A350 middot A400M middot NSR middot KC-45

Other supported types Sud Aviation Caravelle middot Aeacuterospatiale-BAC Concorde

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Lists relating to aviation

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(UAVs) middot Experimental aircraft

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The original article is from Wikipedia To view the original article please click here Creative Commons Licence

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httpwwwworldlingocommaenwikienAirbus_A300

Airliner Classic Airbus A300 ndash the beginning for a giantkeyaero reviews the development of the model that represented Airbusrsquos first entry into the commercial aviation market

Richard Maslen - 4-Dec-2009

The first ever aircraft produced by Airbus A300 prototype F-WUAB was rolled out on September 28 1972 and made its maiden flight on October 28 Since then the European manufacturer has delivered more than 4700 jets (Airbus Industrie)

When the first prototype Airbus A300 took to the air on October 28 1972 nobody could have predicted the impact that the development of the first twin-engine wide-bodied jet would have on the commercial aviation industry

At the time short-range routes were being operated by single-aisled airliners chief among them the Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 727 On longer routes three- and four-engined types like the Douglas DC-10 the Lockheed L1011 TriStar and the Boeing 747 were replacing the old B707 and DC-8 workhorses However there was an obvious gap in the market for a new medium-range airliner and several European manufacturers were looking at projects to cater for this sector

The first ever aircraft produced by Airbus Industries A300 prototype F-WUAB makes its maiden flight on October 28 1972 Airbus image

The aerospace industry had long been dominated by the US European manufacturers ndash like British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) and Hawker Siddeley in the UK and Breguet and Sud-Aviation in France ndash had but a limited presence in the market But with the formation of Airbus in December 1970 things were about to change and now almost 35 years later and with the emergence of the final-production A300 the pan-European company has positioned itself as one of the leading manufacturers

Airbusrsquos concept of a new medium-range airliner capable of seating around 250 passengers was not a new one and work on the A300 actually pre-dates the formation of the company During the mid-1960s a number of European manufacturers were tentatively working on new aircraft projects Hawker Siddeley was looking at the 160-seat HS132 and 204-seat HS134 whilst BAC was studying the 2-11 and 3-11 as developments to its short-haul airliner the One-Eleven In France Breguet was proposing the double-deck four-engined Br124 Nord the high-wing 12-abreast N600 which had two cabins separated by a central bulkhead and Sud-Aviation the Galion which was planned to be constructed as both a conventional single-deck 200-seater and potentially a two-deck 250-seater

The A300 shares the same basic cockpit as the smaller A310 so pilots are qualified on both types Airbus image

While collaborative issues over the organisation of the Airbus consortium dominated discussions between the manufacturers the new European aircraft was quietly taking shape in the background Initially dubbed the HBN 100 the original airliner was loosely based on concepts already under evaluation around the continent During 1967 a memorandum of understanding was signed between France Germany and the UK to further develop the project but a lukewarm response from airlines ultimately led to the formal project launch being repeatedly delayed

The problems related to the size of the aircraft The 300-seater proposed ndash hence the selection of the name A300 in late 1967 ndash although favoured by the French and supported by local airlines Air France and Air Inter had not been warmly received by others Eventually in face of overwhelming pressure for a smaller capacity model a scaled-down A300 was announced in December 1968 with seating for around 250 passengers Despite having secured no firm orders there was strong interest in the A300 from airlines This resulted in the formal go-ahead to move the project into the construction stage being announced in October 1970 two months before the Airbus consortium was legally founded

Air France was the launch customer for the A300 in 1974 Bob Cowell Collection image

During the development process designers had flirted with a range of fuselage widths but by the time construction work had begun on the first production version designated the A300B1 a smaller cross-section had been selected This measured 564m and became the standard fuselage dimension that Airbus has applied to subsequent wide-body programmes ndash the A330 and A340 The A300B1 was 5095m in length had a cruising speed of Mach 084 and with a load of 250 passengers its typical range was 2222km

The aircraft was to be powered by new engines from General Electric Pratt amp Whitney and Rolls-Royce in the 200+kN thrust range During the development stages the Rolls-Royce RB207 which evolved into the RB211 was the preferred engine but eventually General Electric CF6-50A was chosen as the launch powerplant as a result of Britainrsquos wavering commitment to the project

Pakistan International Airlines introduced four A300B4-203s in 1980 They served for 25 years before being retired for spares in 2005 Bob Cowell Collection image

The assembly of the A300 certainly presented new challenges for the European manufacturers Although international partners had collaborated on projects before ndash perhaps the most famous of which resulted in the supersonic Concorde ndash it had not been done on such a big scale

Airbus adopted an entirely different approach with component parts such as the wing assemblies taken to the production plant at Toulouse lsquoready to flyrsquo All the cabling pipes and equipment were already in place whereas they would normally have been fitted in final assembly As a result only 4 of construction man-hours were actually spent on the final assembly line

One of the main problems of the workshare was how to get all the constituent parts to Airbusrsquos chosen assembly location at Toulouse in the south of France The wing assemblies were produced at the British Aerospace (now BAE Systems) plant at Chester in the UK These had to be transported to Bremen in Germany to be fitted with moving surfaces such as flaps and slats by VFW-Fokker These were then shipped by barge to Lemwerder in Germany where they were flown to Toulouse along with the rear fuselage sections built by MBB The central wingbox and nose section were constructed at St Nazaire and Nantes in France and were transported by road to begin with Tail assemblies had to come from the CASA plant in Spain whilst the engines came from the US

The prototype A300-600 F-WZLR made its maiden flight on July 8 1983 The aircraft featured a redesigned wing with modified flaps slats spoilers and fences Airbus image

To overcome these transportation issues Airbus sourced four Aero Spacelines Super Guppy aircraft ndash a conversion of the military Boeing KC-97 ndash to carry all the sub-assemblies to its Toulouse production facility in the south of France

Although a number of Europersquos flag carriers had confirmed a tentative interest in the A300 no orders had actually been placed prior to the assembly of the first prototype In the development stages the Airbus partners had stated that the project would not be launched unless orders for at least 75 units had been received These never materialised but still it was decided to proceed with the construction of the first aircraft ndash a major risk

Saudia was the launch customer for the A300-600 in March 1984 Bob Cowell Collection image

However it was not long before airlines began to commit to the project The long-awaited launch order was finally signed on November 9 1971 when Air France agreed to acquire six A300s ndash it subsequently announced orders for a further 17 Iberia followed not long after agreeing a contract for four A300s in January 1972 while Lufthansa which had been campaigning for a smaller type settled on an order for three A300s plus four options in May 1973

The first A300B1 F-WUAB was rolled out at Toulouse in August 1972 A number of ground tests were then completed ahead of the public unveiling which was to be in a joint ceremony with Concorde 02 on September 28 1972 The maiden flight was on October 28 At the controls were Aerospatialersquos Senior Test Pilot Max Fischl and the Head of Flight Test Bernard Ziegler with two flight engineers and a flight observer By the end of the following month eleven flights had already been undertaken

Iran Air operates 13 A300s as well as eight A310s Key Archive

A second prototype airframe F-WUAC joined the certification programme in February 1973 while a third aircraft F-WUAD joined in June of the same year The latter was a B2 ndash its fuselage had been stretched by 265m to create room for 24 more seats thus increasing capacity to between 281 and 345 passengers depending upon the configuration This went on to become the initial production version

Disappointed with sales performance Airbus undertook a world tour in a bid to attract more customers ndash particularly in North America ndash and in September 1973 the prototype flew to South America to participate in the Satildeo Paulo air display in Brazil This was followed by demonstration flights across the Americas The tour certainly highlighted the reliability of the new aircraft with little emerging in the way of engineering problems ndash an engine was changed in Chicago but only because of foreign object damage However the effort failed in its primary function of generating further orders

UPS is the second largest operator of the A300 with 53 A300 Freighters on strength Bob Cowell Collection image

With the fourth prototype another B2 F-WUAA joining the certification programme in November 1973 Airbus embarked on more trials and sales tours The first example had completed a tour of India in September before flying to Southern Africa for lsquohot and highrsquo trials at Johannesburg Windhoek and Kinshasa Meanwhile the second had travelled to Helsinki and Rovaniemi in Northern Finland for cold weather trials

After almost 1600 hours of flight testing type certification was awarded to the A300 by both French and German authorities during the first quarter of 1974 allowing its European customers to launch operations US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval followed in May

Turkish cargo operator MNG Airlines has a fleet of seven A300s two of which were captured on camera at Luton Airport in September 2006 Key Archive

The oil crisis in the early 1970s further hindered sales prospects with only three airlines Air France Lufthansa and Iberia placing firm orders by the time of type certification Sterling of Denmark SATA of Switzerland and Transbrasil had all signed Letters of Intent (LoI) for a total of six aircraft but they did not subsequently order or ever operate an A300

The first production model F-BVGA was delivered to Air France on May 10 1974 and entered service on the carrierrsquos regular Paris-London route on May 23 By the end of that year Belgiumrsquos Trans European Airways which had leased the second prototype and Air Siam which had ordered two examples ndash but only took delivery of one ndash had also introduced the A300 into their fleets However despite the successful trouble-free certification and entry into service orders were still slow to materialise

During 1975 Air Inter Indian Airlines Korean Air Lines and South African Airlines (SAA) joined the programme and agreed to acquire 13 aircraft between them In 1976 just a single additional commitment was added to the order book

The last production A300 F-WWAT makes its first flight from Toulouse on April 18 2007 It was delivered to FedEx as N692FE French Frogs Aviation Pictures

Finally there was a breakthrough in the US market Despite having courted Los Angeles-based Western Airlines for a number of years it was actually Eastern Air Lines that became the launch customer across the Atlantic accepting the first of an initial four aircraft in 1977 However these had not been supplied in response to a firm order they had been lsquoloanedrsquo to the airline at no cost ndash apart from interior fittings ndash for a six-month trial Eastern was suitably impressed and agreed a firm order for 23 A300s plus nine options in June 1978 Another eight airlines had also placed orders for 20 jets during 1977 and demand steadily began to increase ndash by the end of 2008 the order book had grown to 126 aircraft

By the end of the 1970s the increased-range B4 version which had been created to widen the modelrsquos market appeal had become the standard production variant It was identical in dimension to the earlier B2 but had an additional centre wing tank boosting the range to over 2000nm (3700km)

It had become obvious that the A300 could be developed into a family of aircraft with varied seating configurations and ranges Three versions were discussed with customers at great length ndash the A300 B9 B10 and B11 The B9 would involve extending the fuselage to offer seating for up to 330 passengers with a range of up to 3300km In contrast the B10 was projected as a response to earlier airline demands for a smaller version that was intended to carry around 200 passengers The B11 was to be a longer-range model that would be powered by four unspecified engines Although none of these projects took to the skies as A300s they did later become commercial programmes but under the respective banners of A330 A310 and A340

FedEx is the largest operator of the A300 with 71 Freighters currently in service Airbus imageHowever the A300 family was still extended a convertible freighter version ndash the B4FC ndash was fitted with a cargo door enabling it to accommodate standard pallets and containers on both the main deck and in its hold A freighter version was also being worked on at this time

In December 1980 a new upgraded version was announced that it was hoped would be more competitive with Boeingrsquos B767 The A300-600 had many new design features including an all-glass two-crew cockpit with digital avionics and flight management systems Externally there was a redesigned wing that included a new inner wing section and modifications had been made to the flaps slats spoilers and wingtip fences The use of composite materials reduced the weight by an astounding 15 tonnes The model was also powered by new engine technology and according to Airbus long-range versions could carry 40 more payload ndash almost three times as far as the original A300B ndash while burning less fuel

The launch customer was Saudi Arabian national carrier Saudia which had placed an order for eleven aircraft The first model a Pratt amp Whitney-powered example flew on July 8 1983 and following certification was delivered to Saudia on March 25 1984 The first General Electric-powered A300-600s followed in 1985 the first being destined for Thai Airways International

Like the earlier B4 versions a convertible freighter was the next variant to evolve the first joining Kuwait Airways in May 1984 A longer-range A300-600R was developed for American Airlines while a full freighter configuration followed as the A300-600 became the definitive version

The dramatic increase in freight traffic in recent years has resulted in a glut of orders for that dedicated version FedEx was the first large cargo carrier to see the potential of the aircraft by ordering 25 in 1991 The first A300-600F flew in December 1993 with deliveries starting in 1994 FedEx subsequently added new orders bringing its total purchases to 42 although it maxed at a fleet of 60 having purchased several second-hand examples

As the commercial aviation marketplace changed and more modern types offered greater efficiency orders for the A300 began to slow during the second half of the 1990s Most of the recent orders have been for freighter versions the last passenger airliner being handed over to Japan Air System in November 2002

The final and 561st production A300 an A300F freighter for FedEx was delivered on July 12 2007 Airbus has a support package to keep A300s flying commercially until at least 2025 some fifty years beyond the first coming off the production line

For more articles like this see our special publication Airliner Classics on sale in all good newsagents and available from our on-line shop for just pound499

httpwwwkeyaeroview_featureaspID=37ampthisSection=commercial

Airbus SAS is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS a European aerospace company Based in Toulouse France and with significant activity across Europe the company produces around half of the worlds jet airliners

Airbus began as a consortium of aerospace manufacturers Consolidation of European defence and aerospace companies around the turn of the century allowed the establishment of a simplified joint stock company in 2001 owned by EADS (80) and BAE Systems (20) After a protracted sales process BAE sold its shareholding to EADS on 13 October 2006

Airbus employs around 57000 people at sixteen sites in four European Union countries Germany France the United Kingdom and Spain Final assembly production is at Toulouse (France) Hamburg (Germany) Seville (Spain) and Tianjin (China) Airbus has subsidiaries in the United States Japan and China

HistoryAirbus Industrie began as a consortium of European aviation firms to compete with American companies such as Boeing McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed

While many European aircraft were innovative even the most successful had small production runs In 1991 Jean Pierson then CEO and Managing Director of Airbus Industrie described a number of factors which explained the dominant position of American aircraft manufacturers the land mass of the United States made air transport the favoured mode of travel a 1942 Anglo-American agreement entrusted transport aircraft production to the US and World War II had left America with a profitable vigorous powerful and structured aeronautical industry

In the mid-1960s tentative negotiations commenced regarding a European collaborative approach Individual aircraft companies had already envisaged such a requirement in 1959 Hawker Siddeley had advertised an Airbus version of the Armstrong Whitworth AW660 Argosy which would be able to lift as many as 126 passengers on ultra short routes at a direct operating cost of 2d per seat mile However European aircraft manufacturers were aware of the risks of such a development and began to accept along with their governments that collaboration was required to develop such an aircraft and to compete with the more powerful US manufacturers At the 1965 Paris Air Show major European airlines informally discussed their requirements for a new airbus capable of transporting 100 or more passengers over short to medium distances at a low cost The same year Hawker Siddeley (at the urging of the UK government) teamed with Breguet and Nord to study airbus designs The Hawker SiddeleyBreguetNord groups HBN 100 became the basis for the continuation of the project By 1966 the partners were Sud Aviation (France) Arbeitsgemeinschaft Airbus later Deutsche Airbus (Germany) and Hawker Siddeley (UK) A request for funding was made to the three governments in October 1966

By early 1967 the A300 label began to be applied and the proposal developed into a 320 seat twin engined airliner On 25 July 1967 the three governments agreed to proceed to the definition stage with the mission statement

For the purpose of strengthening European co-operation in the field of aviation technology and thereby promoting economic and technological progress in Europe to take appropriate measures for the joint development and production of an airbus

Shortly after the agreement Roger Beacuteteille was appointed technical director of the A300 projectBeacuteteille developed a division of labour which would be the basis of Airbus production for years to come France would manufacture the cockpit flight control and the lower centre section of the fuselage Hawker Siddeley whose Trident technology had impressed him was to manufacture the wings Germany should make the forward and rear fuselage sections as well as the upper centre section The Dutch would make the flaps and spoilers finally Spain (yet to become a full partner) would make the horizontal tailplane On 26 September 1967 the German French and British governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding in London which allowed continued development studies This also confirmed Sud Aviation as the lead company that France and the

UK would each have a 375 workshare with Germany taking 25 and that Rolls-Royce would manufacture the engines

In the two years following this agreement both the British and French governments expressed doubts about the project The MoU had stated that 75 orders must be achieved by 31 July 1968 However lukewarm airline support for a 300 seat Airbus A300 lead to the partners submitting the A250 proposal (what became the A300B) for a 250 seat airliner powered by existing engines This dramatically reduced development costs as the Rolls-Royce RB207 represented a large proportion of those costs The RB207 had also suffered difficulties since Rolls-Royce was concentrating its efforts on the development of the related RB211 for the Lockheed L-1011 The French government threatened to withdraw from the project due to the concern over funding development of the Airbus A300 Concorde and the Dassault Mercure concurrently but was persuaded otherwise Having announced its concern at the A300B proposal in December 1968 and fearing it would not recoup its investment due to lack of sales the British government announced its withdrawal on 10 April 1969 Germany took this opportunity to increase its share of the project to 50 Given the participation by Hawker Siddeley up to that point France and Germany were reluctant to take over its wing design Thus the British company was allowed to continue as a privileged subcontractorHawker Siddeley invested GBpound35 million in tooling and requiring more capital received a GBpound35 million loan from the German government

Formation of AirbusAirbus Industrie was formally established as a Groupement dInteret Economique (Economic Interest Group or GIE) on 18 December 1970 It had been formed by a government initiative between France Germany and the UK that originated in 1967 The name Airbus was taken from a non-proprietary term used by the airline industry in the 1960s to refer to a commercial aircraft of a certain size and range for this term was acceptable to the French linguistically Aerospatiale and Deutsche Airbus each took a 365 share of production work Hawker Siddeley 20 and Fokker-VFW 7 Each company would deliver its sections as fully equipped ready-to-fly items In October 1971 the Spanish company CASA acquired a 42 share of Airbus Industrie with Aerospatiale and Deutsche Airbus reducing their stakes to 479 In January 1979 British Aerospace which had absorbed Hawker Siddeley in 1977 acquired a 20 share of Airbus Industrie The majority shareholders reduced their shares to 379 while CASA retained its 42

In 1972 the A300 made its maiden flight and the first production model the A300B2 entered service in 1974 Initially the success of the consortium was poor but by 1979 there were 81 aircraft in service It was the launch of the A320 in 1981 that guaranteed the status of Airbus as a major player in the aircraft market - the aircraft had over 400 orders before it first flew compared to 15 for the A300 in 1972

Transition to Airbus SASThe retention of production and engineering assets by the partner companies in effect made Airbus Industrie a sales and marketing company This arrangement led to inefficiencies due to the inherent conflicts of interest that the four partner companies faced they were both GIE shareholders and subcontractors to the consortium The companies collaborated on development of the Airbus range but guarded the financial details of their own production activities and sought to maximise the transfer prices of their sub-assemblies

In the early 1990s the then Airbus CEO Jean Pierson argued that the GIE should be abandoned and Airbus established as a conventional company However the difficulties of integrating and valuing the assets of four companies as well as legal issues delayed the initiative In December 1998 when it was reported that British Aerospace and DASA were close to merging Aeacuterospatiale paralysed negotiations on the Airbus conversion the French company feared the combined BAeDASA which would own 579 of Airbus would dominate the company and it insisted on a 5050 splitHowever the issue was resolved in January 1999 when BAe abandoned talks with DASA in favour of merging with Marconi Electronic Systems to become BAE Systems Then in 2000 three of the four partner companies (DaimlerChrysler Aerospace successor to Deutsche Airbus Aeacuterospatiale-Matra successor to Sud-Aviation and CASA) merged to form EADS simplifying the process EADS now owned Airbus France Airbus Deutschland and Airbus Espantildea and thus 80 of Airbus IndustrieBAE Systems and EADS transferred their production assets to the new company Airbus SAS in return for shareholdings in that company

BAE sale and A380 controversyOn 6 April 2006 BBC News reported that BAE Systems was selling its share then conservatively valued at euro35 billion (US$417 bn) The move was seen by many analysts as a move to make partnerships with US firms more feasible in both financial and political terms BAE originally sought to agree on a price with EADS through an informal process However due to the slow pace of negotiations and disagreements over price BAE exercised its put option which saw investment bank Rothschild appointed to give an independent valuation

In June 2006 Airbus became embroiled in a significant international controversy over its announcement of a further delay in the delivery of its A380 In the wake of the announcement the value of associated stock plunged by up to 25 in a matter of days although it soon recovered somewhat Allegations of insider trading on the part of Noeumll Forgeard CEO of EADS its majority corporate parent promptly followed The loss of associated value caused great concern on the part of BAE The Independent describing a furious row between BAE and EADS with BAE believing the announcement was designed to depress the value of its share A French shareholder group filed a class action lawsuit against EADS in a Dutch court for failing to inform investors of the financial implications of the A380 delays while airlines to which deliveries were promised are expected to demand compensation As a result EADS chief Noeumll Forgeard and Airbus CEO Gustav Humbert announced their resignations on 2 July 2006

On 2 July 2006 Rothschild valued BAEs stake at pound19 billion (euro275 billion) well below the expectation of BAE analysts and even EADS On 5 July BAE appointed independent auditors to investigate how the value of its share of Airbus had fallen from the original estimates to the Rothschild valuation They pushed back any potential sale until September at the earliest On 6 September 2006 BAE agreed to sell its stake in Airbus to EADS for pound187 billion (euro275 billion $353 billion) pending BAE shareholder approval On 4 October shareholders voted in favour of the sale

On 9 October 2006 Christian Streiff Humberts successor resigned due to differences with parent company EADS over the amount of independence he would be granted in implementing his reorganization plan for Airbus He will be succeeded by EADS co-CEO Louis Gallois This brings Airbus under more direct control of its parent company

CATIA debacleOn 3 October 2006 Christian Streiff announced that the reason for delay of the Airbus A380 was the use of incompatible software used to design the aircraft Primarily the Toulouse assembly plant used the latest version 5 of CATIA (made by Dassault) while the design centre at the Hamburg factory used an older incompatible version 4 Parts of the plane were also designed using Parametric Technology Corporation software The responsibility for the problem was put on the top management for not placing a high enough priority on forcing the compatible software through all parts of the organization The result was that the 530km of cables wiring throughout the aircraft had to be completely redesigned

The cost of this debacle is expected to reach $61 billion over the next four years Although none of the orders have been canceled Airbus will have to pay millions in late-delivery penalties

2007 restructuringOn 28 February 2007 CEO Louis Gallois announced the companys restructuring plans Entitled Power8 the plan would see 10000 jobs cut over four years 4300 in France 3700 in Germany 1600 in the UK and 400 in Spain 5000 of the 10000 would be at sub contractors Plants at Saint Nazaire Varel and Laupheim face sell off or closure while Meaulte Nordenham and Filton are open to investors As of 16 September 2008 the Laupheim plant has been sold to a Thales-Diehl consortium and the operations at Filton have been sold to GKN of the United Kingdom The announcements have resulted in Airbus unions in France planning to strike with German Airbus workers possibly following

Civilian ProductsThe Airbus product line started with the A300 the worlds first twin-aisle twin-engined aircraft A shorter re-winged re-engined variant of the A300 is known as the A310 Building on its success Airbus launched the A320 with its innovative fly-by-wire control system The A320 has been and continues to be a great commercial success The A318 and A319 are shorter derivatives with some

of the latter under construction for the corporate biz-jet market (Airbus Corporate Jet) A stretched version is known as the A321 and is proving competitive with later models of the Boeing 737

The longer-range products the twin-jet A330 and the four-engine A340 have efficient wings enhanced by winglets The Airbus A340-500 has an operating range of 16 700 kilometres (9000 nautical miles) the second longest range of any commercial jet after the Boeing 777-200LR (range of 17 446 km or 9420 nautical miles) The company is particularly proud of its use of fly-by-wire technologies and the common cockpit systems in use throughout the aircraft family which make it much easier to train crew

Airbus is studying a replacement for the A320 series tentatively dubbed NSR for New Short-Range aircraft Those studies indicated a maximum fuel efficiency gain of 9-10 for the NSR Airbus however opted to enhance the existing A320 design using new winglets and working on aerodynamical improvements This A320 Enhanced should have a fuel efficiency improvement of around 4-5 shifting the launch of a A320 replacement to 2017-2018

In July 2007 Airbus delivered its last A300 to FedEx marking the end of the A300A310 production line Airbus intends to relocate Toulouse A320 final assembly activity to Hamburg and A350A380 production in the opposite direction as part of its Power8 organization plan begun under ex-CEO Christian Streiff

Airbus supplied replacement parts and service for Concorde until its retirement in 2003

ManufacturingThe final assembly lines of Airbus are in Toulouse (France) (two assembly lines) and Hamburg (Germany) (one assembly line) A fourth final assembly line for the Airbus A400M is in Seville (Spain)

Airbus however has a number of other plants in different European locations reflecting its foundation as a consortium An original solution to the problem of moving aircraft parts between the different factories and the assembly plants is the use of Beluga specially enlarged jets capable of carrying entire sections of fuselage of Airbus aircraft This solution has also been investigated by Boeing who retrofitted 3 of their 747 aircraft to transport the components of the 787 An exception to this scheme is the A380 whose fuselage and wings are too large for sections to be carried by the Beluga Large A380 parts are brought by ship to Bordeaux and then transported to the Toulouse assembly plant by a specially enlarged road

North America is an important region to Airbus in terms of both aircraft sales and suppliers 2000 of the total of approximately 5300 Airbus jetliners sold by Airbus around the world representing every aircraft in its product line from the 107-seat A318 to the 565-passenger A380 are ordered by North American customers According to Airbus US contractors supporting an estimated 120000 jobs earned an estimated $55 billion (2003) worth of business For example one version of the A380 has 51 American content in terms of work share value

EADS Airbus will be opening an assembly plant in Tianjin China for its A320 series airliners to be operational in 2009 AVIC I and AVIC II will be EADS local partners for the site to which sub-assemblies will be sent from plants around the world

A plant will be built in Mobile Alabama for KC-45A A330-200MRTT and A330-200F production

Airbus aircraft numbering systemThe Airbus numbering system is an alpha numeric model number followed by a dash and a three digit number

The model number takes the form of the letter A followed by a 3 a digit then followed normally by a 0 (except in the case of the A319 A321 and A400M) eg A320 The succeeding three digit number represents the aircraft series the engine manufacturer and engine version number respectively To use an A320-200 with International Aero Engines (IAE) V2500-A1 engines as an

example The code is 2 for series 200 3 for IAE and engine version 1 thus the aircraft number is A320-231

An additional letter is sometimes used These include C for a combi version (passengerfreighter) F for a freighter model R for the long range model and X for the enhanced model