These A380 Plus updates had one main focus and that was the economy of operation. In order to make the A380 even better and naturally more saleable to airlines, Airbus undertook a program of updates and improvements. The turnaround time at the airport terminal, including passenger disembarkation, cleaning, restocking and embarking the passengers for the next flight is a minimum of 90 minutes. The maximum operating speed is Mach 0.89 and the range is 15,000km or 8,000nm with the maximum number of passengers. The aircraft can complete a 180° turn within a width of 56.5m, which is within the 60m width dimension of standard runways. ELDEC of Lynnwood, Washington, provides the landing gear proximity sensing system. The load on the airport runways and aprons are of similar magnitude to that of a 747. Smiths Aerospace supplies the landing gear extension and retraction system. Messier-Dowty supplies the nose landing gear with 350bar hydraulic pressure and Messier-Bugatti the braking and steering systems. Each landing gear supports about 167tonnes.
The 22-wheel Goodrich landing gear consists of two under-wing struts each with four wheels, two central under-fuselage struts each with six wheels and a twin nose wheel.
As we now know, this idea also never saw the light of day. The current wing area already is rated for the extra weight this would incur, however, strengthening of certain areas would still need to be undertaken. There was also an A380-900 stretch version on the drawing board which could carry 656 passengers in a three-class configuration or 960 passengers in an all economy version. The A380-800F which was designed to carry 150 tonnes of cargo over a range of 10,400 Km (5,600 nautical miles) was put on hold while Airbus concentrated on the passenger side of the market. The range of this aircraft is 15,400Km (8,300 nautical miles) which is equivalent to flying Hong Kong to New York. In May 2007 Airbus also offered a configuration with 30 fewer passengers which added a further 370Km (200 nautical miles) to its range. The A380-800 which in a three-class configuration can carry 555 passengers or if configured as all economy this can raise the total to 853. The A380 design was finalised in early 2001, and the first structural components were laid down on 23 January 2002.Īirbus intended to offer the A380 initially in two versions:
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