The world”s largest commercial airliner, the 555-seat Airbus A380, is now in the middle of a route proving exercise carrying out function and reliability tests at key airports around the world. This series of flights is the last of the trials required for Type Certification, which is expected in mid-December. For the trial, the aircraft has to make over 150 flight hours on a continuous typical airline schedule, performing in its normal operational environment.
The aircraft used for the trial is A380 MSN002, powered by four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines. Starting from Toulouse the aircraft is visiting ten different airports including Singapore, Seoul, Hong Kong and Narita, Tokyo. Included are Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai.
A spectacular final trip takes the A380 around the globe, via both poles. It will depart Toulouse to reach Johannesburg on 26 November, and then fly over the South Pole en-route to Sydney where it will arrive on 28 November. From Sydney, it will fly across the Pacific to Vancouver (29 November) prior to returning to Toulouse via the North Pole.
During this technical route proving exercise, the A380 will have to demonstrate that it can be turned around as per normal airline operations. Tests cover, amongst other things, checks on standard aircraft maintenance and behaviour, as well as typical airport operations and compatibility. These include monitoring functions such as bridge docking, cleaning and catering, refuelling and boarding procedures.
Image: A380 Technical Route Proving - Visit of the A380 by Chairman Choo in Seoul, Korea. ” Airbus S.A.S 2006