BREAKING NEWS is confirmation by Airbus that a second A380 is due to join the flight test programme in October. Toulouse tells ABTN that flight trials of the first aircraft have been truly excellent, the A380 making its first automatic landing on its 17th flight (something that does not normally happen until much further into the programme), and minimum unstick speed trials, in which a bumper protected rear fuselage is dragged along the ground, also began early, in July. The preliminary results of the performance have been good and last week Airbus began fatigue tests on a specially designated airframe, two and a half months earlier than planned; testing to 2.5 times the 19,000 flights design service goal, a theoretical number an a A380 would be expected to make during a 25-year service life. We have added here an A380 in the colours of Emirates, the real aircraft due to be unveiled at the Dubai air show in November.