OT: Aerospace Notebook: A380 for Virgin Atlantic delayed
One plane would be about the same number as Alaskas add on order LOL
By JAMES WALLACE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
A knight of the British realm, Sir Richard Branson has never been one to resist making a colorful splash on the world's aviation stage.
At the Farnborough Air Show outside London two years ago, Branson, the flamboyant billionaire chairman of Virgin Atlantic, took delivery of the first Airbus A340-600, the world's longest jetliner, bearing this motif: "Mine's bigger than yours."
With Branson surrounded by the kind of lovely ladies usually found on Page Three of the British tabloids, the Airbus plane was christened at the air show by supermodel Claudia Schiffer.
So just imagine what Branson might have been planning in 2006 when his airline was due to take delivery of the second A380 superjumbo from Airbus? Singapore Airlines gets the first one.
But this week, Virgin Atlantic announced that the delivery of its first A380 had been pushed back 18 months, from July 2006 into late 2007. It will take five more after that.
By then, however, Branson's A380 will be an also-ran, not a pacesetter.
What gives?
Some industry observers suggest that Branson may be leery of taking one of the first of the new superjumbos. The early A340-600s that Virgin Atlantic took in 2002 reportedly had some minor problems, such as with the flight entertainment system. Typically, these kinds of "teething" issues for new jets are eventually resolved.
Officially, Virgin Atlantic said it remains "absolutely committed" to the A380, which can carry up to 555 passengers on two decks. One reason for asking Airbus to delay delivery of its first A380, according to Virgin Atlantic, is the lack of progress in getting Los Angeles International Airport ready to handle the world's biggest commercial jetliner.
Back in December, Branson said he had written to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and asked him to intervene.
"Los Angeles has been the slowest of all the early A380 airports to get its act together," Branson told the industry publication Flight International at the time.
He raised concerns that A380 passengers would have to be bused across a busy runway to the terminal buildings at LAX.
Initially, Virgin Atlantic was to operate its A380 between London and New York, followed by service to Los Angeles.
After the Monday announcement by Virgin Atlantic, officials at LAX released a statement saying the airport would be ready to accommodate the A380 when the first plane arrives there in late 2006.
An airport spokesman questioned why the airport was being singled out by Virgin Atlantic.
The A380 does present challenges for airports. Most operators want two bridges, one for loading the top deck with business and first-class passengers, and a lower bridge for loading the bottom deck.
Bigger gates are needed.
Although the A380 will be certified to operate from conventional 148-foot-wide runways, shoulders may be needed. That's because the outboard engines on the 261-foot wingspan of the A380 would hang out over grass, presenting a potential fire hazard. In some cases, taxiway turn areas must be widened.
Although the A380 will have an unprecedented maximum takeoff weight of more than 1.2 million pounds, the 20-wheel landing gear will distribute the weight so that loads are actually less than for some current large jets.
Airports that initially will handle the A380 have said they will be ready for the huge plane by the time it enters service in 2006. These include JFK in New York, London's Heathrow and Frankfurt, Germany.
Virgin Atlantic cited another reason for pushing back delivery of its first A380. More time is needed to develop the customized cabin innovations on its A380s, the airline said.
That rings more true than concerns about LAX. After all, Branson has talked about bringing a new kind of flying experience to passengers on his airline's A380s. He has mentioned having bar lounges, casinos and buffet-style meals.
Regardless of the reasons for the delay, the news from Virgin Atlantic was something of a public-relations setback for Airbus and the A380.
Some commercial airplanes people at Boeing were quick to suggest, privately, that this might be the first cracks in the A380 program.
Boeing has long maintained that Airbus has badly misread the market for a plane the size of the A380, which will supplant Boeing's 747 as the biggest commercial jetliner.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Airbus played down the development, stressing that no other airlines among its launch customers had requested a delivery delay. Airbus has so far won 129 firm orders from 11 customers for its A380.
But yesterday, an Air France executive told Bloomberg New that Europe's largest airline would delay delivery of its first A380 by four months, to April 2007. The reason: The airline's chief financial officer said more time is needed for completion of a terminal at Charles de Gaulle Airport that will handle the A380.
