At the ceremony Air France unveiled its spacious and comfortable cabin, featuring 538 seats in a three class configuration (nine First, 80 Business and 449 Voyageur Economy). The cabin features innovative mood lighting with several different lighting scenarios to create a calm atmosphere and environment for its passengers.

“Each A380 will enable Air France to save 12 to 15 million euros a year, which, in today’s depressed economic climate, provides the Company with the means to withstand the crisis” said Pierre-Henri Gourgeon Chief Executive Officer of Air France KLM.” Air France will therefore be able to offer customers even greater comfort, while keeping costs under control. Furthermore, the performance of the A380 is in line with our environmental commitments”, he added.

“This delivery marks another milestone in the longstanding history and partnership between Air France and Airbus,” said Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO. “It fills us with great pride that our first ever aircraft customer is now also the first European airline to operate the A380.We are convinced the A380 will greatly contribute to Air France’ continued success.”

The aircraft is powered by four Engine Alliance GP7200 engines delivering up to 72,000 lbs of thrust each. The A380 has an unmatched fuel efficiency, consuming less than three litres per 100 kilometres per passenger. Thanks to excellent aerodynamic performance, the A380complies with today’s strictest noise limits, and also makes it the quietest large aircraft flying today. The all new double deck aircraft generates only half as much noise on take-off and landing as the previous largest passenger aircraft. The A380 provides also vital extra passenger capacity without increasing the number of flights, and is therefore part of the solution for sustainable growth at congested airports

The aircraft’s efficient performance and industry leading technology result in higher operational flexibility and outstanding operational economics. With a range of more than 15,000 km/8,000 nm and seat-mile costs 20 per cent lower than its closest competitor.

Air France ordered 10 A380s in June 2001 and added another two in 2007.

Air France’s first A380 will start its commercial service with inaugural flights on the 20th and 21st November on the Paris – New York – Paris route. As the largest Airbus operator in Europe with a fleet of 183 aircraft, the airline currently operates 34 A330 and A340 aircraft as well as 149 A320 family aircraft. Air France took delivery of the first Airbus aircraft in 1974 and was also the first carrier in the world to operate aircraft from the entire Airbus Single-Aisle A320 Family.

The new Air France A380 is the 20th A380 delivered by Airbus – 10 are already flying with Singapore, five with Emirates and four with Qantas. These aircraft are connecting four continents on 13 major international routes. Today 12 major international hub-airports around the world regularly welcome the A380 including: Auckland, Bangkok, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.

Up to now, the A380 fleet has accumulated over 75,000 revenue flight hours in over 7,900 commercial flights. Over 2,5 million passengers have already enjoyed flying the A380.

Airbus has won 200 firm A380 orders from 16 customers worldwide, including Air France.

Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) — Air France-KLM Group takes delivery today of its first Airbus A380 double-decker jet fitted with a lounge bar and on-demand video, luxuries that have complicated assembly of the plane already plagued by production delays.

Letting airlines take travel comfort to the next level with showers, enclosed suites or bar lounges has made the A380 a hit on routes in Asia where the super-jumbo operates. For Airbus, the gizmos have spawned engineering woes that haunt a program reeling from cost overruns, sluggish demand and order deferrals.

“They customized the plane to death, and that’s preventing them from reaching the production levels they’d talked about,” said Rupinder Vig, an analyst at Morgan Stanley in London. “The other issue is that customers clearly don’t want the plane now as much as they wanted it a year or two ago.”

Air France is the first European airline to receive the world’s largest passenger aircraft, which will link Paris and New York after its Nov. 20 maiden voyage. Airbus, the world’s largest maker of commercial aircraft, hands over the jet, which seats more than 500 passengers, at a ceremony in Hamburg today.

When the A380 entered service in October 2007, it was two years late and $6 billion over its original $12 billion budget. The delays were partly the result of French and German engineers using different software tools. As a consequence, cabins were improperly wired, and the work had to be redone by hand.

‘A Challenge’

Customizing the A380 for carriers is “a big challenge,” Airbus Chief Executive Officer Thomas Enders said in a Bloomberg Television interview today. Giving customers wide latitude with design and cabin outfit has helped them generate higher revenue per passenger, making it worth the effort, said Stefan Schaffrath, a spokesman. And while many airlines have postponed deliveries, not one has canceled the passenger jet, Schaffrath said.

Airbus introduced a single design platform so the planes could be assembled by automation starting from the 26th model. That move, started this year, proved slower than foreseen, partly from challenges to get workers up to speed on the unified software. With Air France today, Airbus will have delivered just seven A380s this year, compared with its target of 13.

Nick Cunningham of Evolution Securities in London says Airbus was under pressure to grant a previously unheard-of customization level. The aircraft itself didn’t bring major efficiency benefits over smaller jets such as Airbus’s 250-seat A330-200 widebody model, he said. The additional space also prompted airlines to consider cabins impossible on other jets.

Gizmos

“They needed to sell the plane on other things,” said Cunningham. “They had to offer a lot of customization, such as showers, and all sorts of gizmos.”

By contrast, Boeing Co. kept customization to a minimum when it began offering the 787, letting clients visit a showroom in Seattle where they could pick from pre-selected options. That plane, too, is more than two years behind schedule, though for reasons relating to materials, design and supplier bottlenecks.

The additional space on the Airbus has allowed Singapore Airlines, the A380s first customer, for example, to add private cabins that feature Italian leather seats and full-sized flat beds. There is no plan to add showers or bars to the cabins for now, said Nicholas Ionides, a spokesman for the airline.

When Airbus first disclosed the magnitude of the design flaws more than three years ago, the company slashed initial targets. By October 2006, a new schedule called for one plane being delivered in 2007, 13 in 2008, 25 in 2009 and 45 in 2010.

Behind Target

Airbus only came through on the first year. In 2008, it handed over 12 jets, and dropped the target for 2009 to 18 at the start of this year, before lowering it further to 14, and subsequently 13. For 2010, Airbus is officially targeting “more than 20”, or less than half the number planned earlier. Vig, the Morgan Stanley analyst, predicts deliveries closer to 13.

Airbus began offering the plane in December 2000 and estimates it’ll get at least 700 orders within 20 years. So far, it has 200 firm orders from 16 customers. They include 14 airlines, as well as airplane leasing company International Lease Finance Corp. One private customer, Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, also ordered a jet.

The last new order came from British Airways Plc in September 2007, for 12 aircraft. No new customer has signed up since. European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., Airbus’s parent, estimated in 2006 it would break even on its A380 investment after selling 420 planes. The company had previously set that mark at 300 units. Since 2007, EADS has refrained from public targets, saying Boeing doesn’t disclose such figures either.

Profitable Project?

“The critical question is: Are they ever going to make any money on this plane?” said Hans Weber, the chief executive officer of consulting company Tecop International that advises companies including Boeing and EADS.

Weber estimates Airbus is selling the first 100 jets at a discount of 40 percent on average off the initial list price of $240 million. The price for an A380 has since risen to $327 million. He also puts development costs at about $20 billion.

The slow production pace is creating additional cost overruns. Inventory has built up before Airbus needs the parts. The A380 is pieced together in a cross-border effort, with the wings coming from Wales, the tail from Germany and Spain, and the cockpit from France. The pieces are sent by ship, barge and truck to Toulouse in southwestern France, where the plane is assembled before flying to Hamburg for cabin outfitting.

Slumping Travel

To be sure, the A380 has to contend with turbulences beyond the company’s control. The global airline industry may lose $11 billion this year, the International Air Transport Association predicted in September, widening its June forecast by $2 billion. Asia-Pacific carriers, a key customer group for the A380, will account for a third of that, the group predicted.

Of the 14 airline customers for the plane, 10 have asked to push back at least some A380 deliveries. Yesterday, Deutsche Lufthansa, which has 15 on order, announced that it would defer some A380s. Other postponing carriers include Singapore Airlines, Kingfisher Airlines in India, Qatar Airways, Air France, and Virgin Atlantic. The biggest single customer for the jet is Emirates, which eventually aims to operate 58 A380s.

Still, wherever the A380 does fly, passengers are flocking to board the plane. Singapore Air flew more than 1.6 million passengers on the A380 since flights with the 471-seat plane began in October 2007, filling more than 80 percent of seats on average, said Ionides, the airline spokesman.

“It’s definitely an attractive flagship for airlines,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of the Teal Group, a Fairfax, Virginia-based forecaster. “But it will never be the mainstay of anyone’s fleet.”

October 25, 2009, marked the second anniversary of the first commercial flight by the Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft. Singapore Airlines inaugurated this airplane with a flight from Singapore (SIN) to Sydney, Australia (SYD).
Over the past two years, the A380 has logged nearly 9,000 flight operations. Three airlines are currently operating scheduled passenger flights on the Airbus A380 – Emirates, Qantas and Singapore. Air France will become the first European airline to join this elite group. In fact, Air France will take delivery of its first A380 on October 30, 2009, at a ceremony in Hamburg, Germany. Service between Paris (CDG) and New York (JFK) will be inaugurated on November 20, 2009.
By the end of 2009, a total of 14 airports around the world will handle service on the A380 on a regular basis. Singapore Changi Airport has the distinction as the busiest Airbus A380 airport in the world – nearly one in three Airbus A380 flights touchdown in Singapore. London Heathrow (LHR), Sydney (SYD), Dubai (DXB), and Tokyo/Narita (NRT) round out the busiest A380 airports.
There are currently 19 A380s that have been delivered to customers, and all are in operation. The seating configuration for the A380 varies by airline. All Qantas A380s have 450 seats; all Singapore A380s and Air France A380s have 471 seats; and all Emirates A380s have 489 seats.
An additional 180 Airbus A380s are on order by 14 airlines and one leasing company. Emirates is the largest customer of A380s and will have a total of 58 in its fleet when deliveries are complete. Qantas (20), Singapore (19), Lufthansa (15), Air France (12) and British Airways (12) round out the top five Airbus A380 customers.
Qantas has the distinction of operating both the longest and the shortest A380 routes. The longest A380 route measures 7,920 statute miles, the distance between Melbourne, Australia (MEL) and Los Angeles, USA (LAX). The shortest A380 route measures 1340 statute miles, the distance between Sydney and Auckland, New Zealand (AKL).
After two short years, the Airbus A380 story is only at the beginning; many more exciting milestones lie ahead.

The steeper-than-anticipated loss has led the company to cut its profit forecast for 2009.

Shares in the firm fell 2.4% to $50.64 after the figures were announced.

The loss compares with a profit of $695m made in the same period a year earlier.

Flight SQ227, operated with a 471-seat double-decker A380 aircraft, departs Singapore at 21:00 to arrive in Melbourne at around 05:45. The return journey departs Melbourne at 15:50 and touches down in Singapore at 21:40.

Melbourne is the second Australian city and sixth city in Singapore Airlines’ network to receive the A380. Singapore Airlines currently operates 21 weekly flights between Singapore and Melbourne, including the daily A380 service.

“The A380 continues to be extremely popular with our customers, as we see very positive booking response for our scheduled A380 services between Singapore and Melbourne. Since the start of its operation in October 2007, the A380 has carried more than 1.8 million customers on more than 4,600 commercial flights. Our A380 customers tremendously enjoy the quiet cabin ambience, our innovative inflight products and gracious service delivered by our cabin crew. On routes with multiple daily frequencies operated with different aircraft, many of our customers will specifically choose the service that is operated by this clean and green superjumbo,” said Mr. Huang Cheng Eng, Singapore Airlines’ Executive Vice President, Marketing and the Regions.

The A380 features the exclusive Singapore Airlines Suites. Each suite comes with sliding doors and adjustable roller-blinds, and a luxurious leather seat upholstered by Italy’s Poltrona Frau. Come bedtime, a full-sized bed with plush pillows and duvet is deployed for the customer by the cabin crew.

At 86 centimetres (34 inches), the Singapore Airlines Business Class seat is one of the widest in its class. Fully adjustable by an intuitive control panel, the seat can be adjusted to suit any seating or lounging positions. The seatback folds down easily to form a comfortable, full-flat bed. The intelligent design allows customers to lounge in bed to watch movies or TV programmes, read or dine as they would in the comfort of their own homes.

Utilising advanced materials, the ergonomically-designed Economy Class seat provides customers with comfortable legroom and personal space. With smart innovations like the non-intrusive reading lights and height-adjustable leather headrest, the Singapore Airlines Economy Class promises more comfort and privacy than ever.

Singapore Airlines first started A380 operations to Sydney in October 2007, and subsequently added superjumbo services to London, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong and now, Melbourne. The airline currently has 10 A380s in the fleet, with a further nine on firm order and options on six more.

SQ227 departs from Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3. Customers should proceed to Terminal 3 to check in for this flight.

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Air France will be the first operator to offer A380 transatlantic travel between Europe and the U.S., flying from its hub at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport to New York beginning this November. The aircraft subsequently will be used on routes between Paris and Dubai, Johannesburg and Tokyo.

The French carrier’s A380s are being outfitted to carry 538 passengers in its three cabin classes – with the main deck accommodating nine seats in Première (First) and 343 in Voyageur (Economy), while the upper deck will seat 80 in Business and 106 in Voyageur (Economy).

To mark the A380’s service entry, Air France will conduct a worldwide Internet auction of 380 seats on each of its two inaugural flights, operating from Paris to New York on 20 November, and New York to Paris on the following day. In addition to experiencing the A380’s first scheduled transatlantic voyages in Air France service, auction winners will tour New York and Paris. Profits from the auction – to be held in October – will be used to fund three humanitarian projects supported by the Air France Foundation for children in distress.

From 23 November, Air France’s revenue service with the A380 will feature two daily flights between Paris and New York, except on Wednesdays.

Lufthansa plans to use its A380s primarily on heavily-travelled routes to Asia and North America. The carrier is focusing on approximately 20 airports across the globe as destinations for the A380, which will enter revenue service during the summer 2010 flight schedule.

To promote its new service, Lufthansa has developed an interactive A380 mini-website that covers subjects ranging from the aircraft’s build-up process on Airbus’ final assembly line to airport operations once it enters revenue service with the airline.

This specially-designed site offers puzzles, contests, games and images, as well as video-on-demand functions themed around the 21st century flagship. One Flash-based game enables players to use their cursor keys to successfully navigate a digital A380 to its airport gate. Visitors also can also access an online shop that sells Lufthansa-branded A380 merchandise, from beach towels to crystal replicas of the aircraft.

Qantas is canceling its orders for the 787-9 variant and deferring delivery of the 787-8 variant. The canceled orders had been for planes scheduled for delivery in 2014/2015.

Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said that the company had been in talks with Boeing for months and the decision was not influenced by Boeing’s announcement on Tuesday that it would delay first flight of the 787.

“Qantas announced its original B787 order in December 2005, and the operating environment for the world’s airlines has clearly changed dramatically since then,” Joyce said in a statement. “The agreement we have reached with Boeing will provide greater certainty going forward in terms of our fleet renewal and growth strategies as well as broader resource planning and matching capacity with demand.”

“It will also allow Qantas to manage capital investment more effectively while still delivering an aircraft that offers sound prospects for our flying businesses and our customers,” he added.

He said that the canceled order is worth $3 billion at aircraft listed prices.

Joyce called Boeing’s latest 787 delay “disappointing,” but said that his companies does not “expect it to impact the Qantas Group given these changes to our delivery program. We remain committed to the aircraft as the right choice — for Jetstar’s future international expansion, Qantas’ growth and as a replacement for Qantas’ B767-300 fleet.”

Despite the cancellation, Qantas Group remains the biggest airline customer for 787 family of aircraft with firm orders for 50 aircraft. The group has ordered 35 787-9s and 15 B787-8s.

The 787-9s will go to subsidiary Jetstar for its international operations.