Airport Journals

Airport Journals: "'Here are the facts; we've spent two years looking at public source documents in Europe, and we determined that net of repayment�the face value of the principal amount of those loans over the last 30 years�is about $15 billion, even if you count where payment has been made.'

Dole said applying a commercial rate of interest to that $15 billion is worth about $40 billion.

'That $40 billion is the subsidy associated with the launch aid,' he said. 'Then there's at least another $9.5 billion in additional subsidies in the form of debt forgiveness, equity infusions and infrastructure support; so we're looking upwards at about $50 billion in subsidies to Airbus that haven't been repaid.'"

komo news | Boeing : Will A380 Delay Be More Than Just A Black Eye For Airbus?

komo news | Boeing : Will A380 Delay Be More Than Just A Black Eye For Airbus?: "Others wondered if the delay might be a sign of big underlying problems that could threaten the future of the world's largest plane.
'I think the biggest concern of all ... is that this might not be due to flight testing delays or paperwork. It might be due to a need to meet performance specifications. In other words, they might have to be looking at design aspects of this plane,' said Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst with Teal Group in Fairfax, Va. "

Airbus finalises rescheduling with A380 launch operators

Airbus finalises rescheduling with A380 launch operators: "Although these new dates are believed to be firm, industry sources say they would not be surprised if the programme suffers further slips in the schedule.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) retains its position as launch operator, with delivery of its first aircraft slipping from the second quarter of 2006 to November 2006. SIA says it has now been told to expect first delivery in November 2006 and adds that entry-into-service plans �are being worked through now, and we would hope to have aircraft in service by the end of 2006, but can�t yet be definitive about that�."

Airliners.net Civil Aviation: Future A380-F Customers

Airliners.net Civil Aviation: Future A380-F Customers: "There are some severe limitations on the 380F.

First, the loading on all decks is restricted to 7.2lbs/sq in, while on the 744F it's 9.9lbs/sq in. That is a very restrictive loading footprint for heavy cargo.

Secondly, on the 744F the normal pallet height is 3 meters, this will not fit in the 380F.

As has been pointed out, the 380F will make a fine package freighter, where you will fill the plane in volumetric terms rather than in weight. On the 744F, most of the flights I have flown are weight limited, meaning you are right at MZFW rather than just running out of space."

Carriers such as UPS & Fedex can make use of the A380, but Carriers, like Polar Air Cargo, Atlas, & NCA (Nippon Cargo Airliners) will never touch the A380 due to its lack of a nose loader.

Airliners.net Civil Aviation: 772LR: Boeing Confident It Can Catch Airbus

Airliners.net Civil Aviation: 772LR: Boeing Confident It Can Catch Airbus: "1. The A345 is approx 60,000 lbs heavier than the 772LR. In addition to sending opperating cost through the roof, this greatly affects the payload that can be carried. Max structural payload for the A345 is significantly lower than the 772LR.

2. The narrow cross-section of the A345 means that it cannot carry 747/MD11 sized pallets as the 772LR can. This greatly affects interoperability and flexibility, and puts the A345 out of the league of these freighters.

3. Freighters almost always fly short hops not exceeding 6,000 nm or so. In this case, ETOPS is completly irrelevant and a quad configuration becomes a maintenance liability."

Airliners.net Civil Aviation: Things Do Change In Four Years: A346 Vs 773ER

Airliners.net Civil Aviation: Things Do Change In Four Years: A346 Vs 773ER: "Oh boy, now you are really in dangerous territory. More pax with more range is highly debatable and probably downright wrong(unless you believe Airbus' figures which are as biased as Boeing's). Look at 773ER/346 existing operators and their seating configurations, and you will likely see a big capacity advantage for the 773ER. The lack of width in the 330/340 cabin is causing problems for premium class layouts at some carriers. For example, QF can't use the 747 skybed in the A330s and a narrower modified seat has to be used. No such problems with the 777 cabin. Of course the 346 is slower, burns significantly more fuel, has a much lower dispatch rate and is maintenance-wise more expensive.
I disagree completely with your statement that the FI article was basically positive. It was fairly guarded IMO, didn't get to the crux of the airlines woes with the 345/346 and left me with a bit of doubt as to what the airlines actually think of them. It also didn't pursue the fact that more than one airline has sought and received compensation from Airbus due to their dissatisfaction with the 345/346 family. The fact that they can't reached the promised dispatch reliability rate after 3 years in service is damning. The fact that EK is more than likely to dump their 346 order for 359/777 is even more damning."

Bloomberg.com: U.S.

Bloomberg.com: U.S.: "Toulouse-based Airbus will face financial penalties if the plane exceeds its target of about 240 tons, missing performance goals, says Executive Vice President for Operations Gerard Blanc, 61."

...each ton of extra weight allows the plane to carry 12 fewer passengers, assuming an average weight of 175 pounds (79 kilograms) per person. Four tons, he says, could mean about 48 fewer people.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=afhSVaqnx_J4&refer=news_index

Expatica - Living in, moving to, or working in France, plus French news in English

Expatica - Living in, moving to, or working in France, plus French news in English: "'If we fix the euro/dollar rate at EUR 1.30, and based on what we have already done for the programme (in terms of currency hedging), and also taking into account the higher development costs, we get a break-even point that is well above 300 planes,' Camus said. "