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The world’s largest commercial airliner, the
800+ seat Airbus A380, arrived Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi
airport today, following the successful completion of a series of technical route proving missions at the end of November. The A380 MSN002,
one of five test aircraft, landed at 13.22 local time following a 11 hour 35
minute flight from Toulouse, France. The aircraft was under the command of Airbus experimental test pilot, Lucien
Beinard.
During the visit
the A380 will be presented to officials from Thai Airways International and the Airport
Authority of Thailand, as well as undertaking a series of airport compatibility verification tests.
The technical route proving completed on 30th November is the last of the trials required for Type Certification, which is expected
mid-December. The exercise took the A380 MSN002 across the globe on an 18-day trip, stopping at ten airports in the
Asia Pacific region. During the
trials, the aircraft flew approximately 69,000 nm / 127,788 km in some 152 flight hours, with all flights performed on schedule. The aircraft
was operated by Airbus flight crews. The Airworthiness Authority pilots from both the European Aviation Safety Agency and the US Federal
Aviation Administration also participated in the technical route proving and flew the aircraft on four legs.
The technical route proving started on November 13th with four trips which included visits to Singapore and Seoul on the 14th and 15th
November, then to Hong Kong and Narita, Japan on 18th and 19th November. On the third trip, the aircraft went to China stopping at
Guangzhou on 22nd November and Beijing and Shanghai on 23rd November. The fourth and final journey included the round-the-world trip
via both poles with stops in South Africa, Australia and Canada.
At each destination, the A380 performed as expected, demonstrating that it can be turned around as per normal airline operations. Checks
were made on standard maintenance and behaviour, as well as typical airport operations and compatibility. This included the monitoring of
functions such as bridge docking, cleaning and catering, refuelling and boarding procedures.
The A380 has a total of 166 orders and commitments from 15 customers, with 66 orders and commitments coming from 7 customers in the
Asia Pacific region, including Thai Airways International.
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