|
The Airbus A380 will be one of the main highlights at the Dubai Air Show where, wearing Emirates colours, it will fly each day. This is the first time that the Airbus A380 has displayed at an Air Show outside Europe, the first time that it is wearing a full airline livery, and the first time that it has visited Dubai.  Emirates was the first airline to select the A380 and is the largest customer for it, with plans to fly 45, including two on lease. The double-deck 21st Century flagship has been chosen by 16 airlines that have already ordered 159 aircraft, including Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, with four and two, respectively. The Airbus A380 being displayed at Dubai is one of five aircraft in a flight test programme that began in April this year and will total some 2,500 hours. Its cabin is full of heavy test-instrumentation - including recorders and barrels of water to simulate the weight of passengers and cargo. The three aircraft currently in the flight-test programme have now flown more than 520 hours in over 140 flights, and continue to make excellent progress according to Airbus. Milestones include an early demonstration of an automatic landing, minimum unstick-speed trials, and a thorough check of aircraft behaviour throughout a wide range of speeds and heights. Airbus also began A380 airport compatibility checks in October, with a visit to Frankfurt. Airbus is present at the Dubai Air Show with a chalet A45-46 and on stand 206 in Hall C, at which it will highlight the whole of its product line. Airbus forecasts that airlines in the Middle East and North Africa will need a total of more than 1,000 airliners, of all different sizes, worth $124 billion, up to the year 2023. The Dubai Air Show takes place between 20 and 24 November 2005, at the Airport Expo in Dubai. See other recent news regarding: Airlines, Dubai, Airbus, A380 |