Aircraft News - Europe.

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Airbus

Airbus has not decided on A350 redesign. Airbus has not decided whether to redesign its planned A350 jetliner. Some airlines and leasing companies have criticized the plane's design. "We continue looking at further possibilities together with the airlines," Airbus spokeswoman Barbara Kracht said. "No decision has been made." May 11, 2006

Airbus said it achieved "two major test milestones in the A380 program this week." Fatigue tests on an A380 in Dresden reached 10,000 cycles, twice as many as needed for certification, according to COO Charles Champion, who heads the A380 program. Fatigue testing began in September 2005 and will continue through 2008 to simulate 47,500 flights. In Hamburg, Airbus completed "the first extensive ground cabin tests in a fully equipped A380." During 5 hr. of testing, 474 passengers and 20 crewmembers simulated a 15-hr. flight during which they tried all cabin systems including IFE, lavatories and air-conditioning. Meanwhile, a Lufthansa cabin crew ran all cabin operations including boarding, safety instructions, galley and trolley lift operations and full meal service. May 11, 2006

RTI International Metals and Airbus signed a 10-year deal under which RTI committed to supply titanium products for all Airbus commercial transports. May 11, 2006

Airbus A320, A321 and A319 were given 180-min. ETOPS approval by US FAA yesterday, two years after the same approval was granted by EASA. May 10, 2006

WTO panel to investigate possible Airbus aid. A World Trade Organization panel will examine claims that jetmaker Airbus receives illegal support from European governments. The U.S. asked the WTO to open the formal investigation. May 10, 2006

Airbus locks in titanium supply through 2015: Airbus has signed contracts to secure its supply of titanium through 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported. The agreements are worth $1.4 billion. An official announcement is expected as early as today. May 9, 2006

Airbus may kill A350 program. Airbus is considering killing its A350 program and replacing it with a new twin-engine design, according to media reports. The new plane would feature all-composite wings and a wider fuselage cross-section. May 9, 2006

Airbus settling on wider fuselage, composite wing as it nears A350 revamp decision. Stung by vocal criticism of its A350 offering from ILFC, Emirates and Singapore Airlines, Airbus is close to announcing a radical revamp of the aircraft, according to insiders in Toulouse.CEO Gustav Humbert told reporters two weeks ago that the airframer would make some sort of decision by summer. Airbus is striving to match Boeing's 787 and 777 while addressing Emirates' disappointment in the A340-600IGW's performance. May 9, 2006

Airbus booked orders for nine aircraft in April, seven A320s and two A319s, boosting the January-April sales total to 99 comprising 79 A320 family aircraft, three A330-200s, one A330-300, three A340-300s, two A350-800s and 11 A350-900s. May 8, 2006

Airbus delivered 40 aircraft in April, bringing deliveries in the first four months of the year to 142 comprising 112 A320 family aircraft, three A300-600Fs, 14 A330-200s, eight A330-300s and five A340-600s. May 8, 2006

Aviation Capital Group reported first-quarter activity comprising leases of two new A320s by Air Deccan, one 737-300 by BRA Transportes Aereos of Sao Paulo, a new A320 by Royal Jordanian, a new A320 by Wizz Air, a 737-400 by Aegean Airlines, an A319 by Mexicana de Aviacion and an A320 by Air China and extension of leases on three 767s by LOT Polish Airlines. ACG also acted as agent and sold nine 757s subject to leases

with US Airways on behalf of a group of institutional investors and three 757s to US on behalf of an institutional client. May 9, 2006

Frontier Airlines selected the CFM56-5B to power six new A320s scheduled for delivery between 2008 and 2010, it announced yesterday. List price for the order is $75 million. The carrier placed an order for six A320s in February and converted orders for four A319s into an additional four A320s. It already operates 52 CFM56-5B-powered A318s and A319s. May 12, 2006

Royal Jordanian took delivery of its fourth new V2500-powered A321 as part of an order for six A320s/A321s to replace aging A310s and A320s. May 9, 2006

Airbus is making substantial progress with its A380 double-decker as the promised December delivery date looms up for lead customer Singapore Airlines. MSN 003, the first proper production aircraft, has now been ferried to Hamburg for its interior to be fitted, and also at Hamburg Airbus carried out a simulated 15-hour flight (but only for 5 hours), with 474 passengers and 20-crew members, during which cabin systems including in-flight entertainment, waste disposal and air conditioning were tested. http://www.airbus.com May 14, 2006

First A380 destined to enter commercial service with Singapore Airlines took its maiden test flight Sunday in Toulouse. Flight was 2 hr. 15 min. The aircraft will be operated on the London-Singapore-Sydney route. SIA has 10 A380s on firm order with options for 15. May 9, 2006

ARINC and SITA yesterday announced formation of an industry technical work group to define the next generation of business-to-business messaging among air transport operators. The workgroup consists of Northwest Airlines, British Airways, Worldspan, Amadeus, Lufthansa Systems, Sabre, Galileo and Mercator. May 11, 2006

Armavia has tragically now lost a second aircraft following the crash of an Airbus A320 on 'finals' for the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, as reported last week. This time thankfully nobody has been killed but a fire at the Sabena Technics Hangar 40 at Brussels Airport destroyed an Airbus A320 under maintenance and a Belgian Air Force Lockheed C130. Armavia is known to be frantically searching around for replacements. http://www.armavia.aero May 14, 2006

Sabena Technics hangar at Brussels Airport was destroyed Friday by a heavy fire that damaged three A320s plus a C-130 belonging to the Belgian Air Force that were in the shop for heavy maintenance. One A320 belonged to Armenian airline Armavia, which lost another A320 two days earlier when it crashed into the Black Sea. Additional A320s reportedly were owned by an Armenian entrepreneur and Hellas Jet, which was operating them with Volare titles. "All four aircraft that were in hangar 40, which is used only for heavy maintenance, are very badly damaged," Sabena Technics spokesperson Carla Daniels confirmed. The MRO provider's offices also were located in the hangar. Authorities launched an investigation into the cause. "We don't exclude anything, but we do not suspect at this moment any malicious intent," Daniels said. Sabena Technics employs some 1,200 people at BRU and had revenue of [euro]120 million ($151.6 million) last year. May 8, 2006