Airbus today unveiled its A350 aircraft fully painted.
The aircraft emerged from the paint facility at Toulouse in the white and blue scheme of Airbus, with its smart blended winglets adorned with ‘A350 XWB’ titles.
As reported earlier, the aircraft is expected to fly on 11 June, though this has not been confirmed officially yet.
The prototype of the new Airbus A350 XWB has recently been moved into the paint shop at Toulouse, where construction and testing have been taking place.
Sources on various forums have recently indicated that the first flight has been scheduled for 11th June at Toulouse.
This fuels the rumours that the aircraft will make a public appearance during this year’s Paris Air Show, which runs between 17-23 June. The public days of the air show are 21-23, which are the days that the type is most likely to appear if the rumours are true.
I stress that these are just rumours and nothing official has been announced by Airbus yet.
Airbus has broken ground on its new aircraft assembly line at Mobile, AL.
The new facility will allow Airbus to manufacture its A320 family aircraft in the United States for the first time. At a capacity-crowd event attended by approximately 2,000 invitees, area residents and others, the final assembly line’s creation was hailed as a “game-changing” development in Airbus’ relationship with the United States.
JetBlue Airways CEO and President David Barger gave his perspective on how Airbus’ $600 million investment in the new Alabama industrial site is viewed by its U.S. customers: “It demonstrates the level of Airbus’ commitment of being close to its important American operator base for A320 aircraft.” He also announced that JetBlue will receive the very first A320 from the Mobile final assembly line – which is targeted for delivery in 2016.
Mobile will join the three existing Airbus final assembly facilities that currently build A320 Family aircraft: its original location at Toulouse, France, which was supplemented by a site in Hamburg, Germany; and subsequently followed by the latest at Tianjin, China.
Toulouse Blagnac Airport is high on the radar for aviation enthusiasts as one of the main manufacturing bases for Airbus (alongside Hamburg Finkenwerder) and ATR, who both build lots of airliners here each year.
The airport has tours to see inside the giant Airbus hangars, but what else can be seen in the area when visiting Toulouse?
Ailes Anciennes Toulouse Museum
This respectable museum is located close to Toulouse Blagnac, at a new site to the north of the airport and close to the Airbus A380 works. If you’re visiting Toulouse Airport for the first time, this museum is a must see attraction. It has a collection of civil and military aircraft, including types such as the Sud Aviation Caravelle, Concorde, Douglas DC-3, Dassault Falcon 10, various Dassault Mirage and Mystere jets, a Gloster Meteor, and one of the Super Guppy transport aircraft. There are around 70 aircraft in all.
The museum is open Wednesdays (2pm-5.30pm) and Saturdays (1.30pm-6pm), with guided tours available on Saturday mornings (9.30am and 10.30am). Museum website: www.aatlse.org
Francazal Aerodrome
A smaller airport around 8 miles to the south of Blagnac Airport. It has a single runway and is popular with biz jet operators, and ATR who send their new aircraft in for works. Francazal is also a base for French Air Force operations.
Viewing is possible at Francozal from within the terminal building.
Air France has announced a new brand that will cover its regional services, named HOP!
HOP will be based at Paris Orly and bring existing airlines Airlinair, Brit Air, and Regional under one identity.
530 daily flights will be operated by HOP! across 136 of Air France’s domestic and regional destinations, including two links to the UK (Aberdeen and Bristol), and some flights from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
This announcement comes hot on the heels of Lufthansa’s recent adaptation of
Germanwings to cover its own regional flying with low cost pricing. HOP will have a similar fare structure, which will offer basic snacks and charge for bringing hold baggage.
Air France CEO Alexandre de Juniac said, “Our new regional airline will be a real asset to better serve all customer segments, in France and in Europe.”
HOP! will begin flying from the Summer 2013 timetable. You can visit its website at www.hop.fr
Malaysia Airlines will begin flying their Airbus A380 aircraft to Paris from 1st March 2013.
The aircraft will operate from Kuala Lumpur to Paris Charles de Gaulle on a daily basis, replacing the current Boeing 777 equipment.
One for the spotters to watch out for!
Aegean Airlines continue to expand, and have announced six new routes that they will be starting from Summer 2013.
These routes include:
Athens – Baku from 28 May
Athens – Berlin Tegel from 30 April
Athens – Lyon from 20 June – 13 September
Athens – Manchester from 25 May
Athens – St. Petersburg from 29 May
Athens – Warsaw from 2 April
All flights operate with Airbus A320 aircraft.
Airbus has rolled out the first full A350-900 airframe at its Toulouse assembly plant, and this is the picture of that aircraft.
Still without engines, this is MSN1 and will be the first flying example once completed.
In this shot, the aircraft is seen being towed to a hangar where it will undergo systems testing.
The first flight of the Airbus A350 is due around the middle of 2013.
David Eaves at Private Jet Charter has compiled this great selection of some of the most bizarre airport runways around the world.
How many of them have you travelled to? Are they as crazy in an aircraft as they look from the outside?
1. Funchal Airport’s Extended Runway
Above: When engineers were looking for a viable way to extend Funchal Airport’s dangerously brief runway, they cleverly opted to ‘rest’ the enormous structure on 180 pillars, each measuring 230ft, rather than using landfill to support the strip. – more info.
2. Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport runway
Above: This is the only airport on the Caribbean island of Saba and because it is so short it is extremely difficult for even very experienced pilots to land on. – more info.
3. Princess Juliana International Airport runway
Above: The beach pictured can be found on the island of Saint Martin in the Caribbean and is unfortunately located directly underneath the landing path of planes approaching the airport runway.
4. Gibraltar Airport’s Runway
Above: This airport runway located in Gibraltar is one of the only airport runways to intersect a public road. The runway operates similarly to a train crossing so traffic is put on hold whilst planes take off.
5. Don Mueang International Airport Runway
Above: The bizarre thing about the runways at this Bangkok airport is that there is about this an 18 hole golf course situated between the two different runways.
6. Courchevel Airport Runway
Above: Courchevel Airport is a French airport that serves Courchevel, which is located in a ski area in the French Alps mountain. The airport has a very short runway of only 525 m (1,722 ft) with gradient of 18.5%. – more info.
7. Kobe Airport Runway
Above: The picture above is of one of Japan’s custom made runways on an artificial island just off the coast of Kobe which can be seen on Google maps. More info can be found on Wikipedia.
Thai Airways is to received its first Airbus A380 in September, with entry to service due in October.
The aircraft recently appeared in full colours at the Hamburg Finkenwerder facility in Germany, where it had recently flown to for painting.
Thai will use their Airbus A380s on routes from Bangkok to European destinations such as Frankfurt and Paris CDG. Initially they will operate to Hong Kong and Singapore from 28 October, and from Januray also to Tokyo Narita.
THAI will become the ninth operator of the A380 when it takes delivery of first the aircraft in the third quarter this year. The airline has firm orders for six A380s.
