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Heavyset Airbus jet may need slimming

By Laurence Frost
The Associated Press

BLOOMBERG NEWS Workers gather in front of an Airbus A380 nose cone at the new final-assembly plant in France.

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Airbus projects that the largest commercial airliner ever built will weigh 319 tons — about 5 percent heavier than the previous target, a company spokeswoman said.

The figures were first reported in yesterday's edition of German weekly Der Spiegel, citing internal Airbus documents.

"These are our working assumptions," Airbus spokeswoman Barbara Kracht said when questioned about the report.

The weight of an aircraft affects fuel efficiency, a key benchmark for airlines deciding what planes to buy.

Kracht insisted the A380 will still meet its fuel-efficiency target — 81 miles for a gallon of kerosene per passenger — when the plane goes into service in spring 2006. "That remains the objective and remains what we will match," she said.

Airbus and rival Boeing are going head to head with very different visions for the future of commercial aviation.

Airbus — which delivered more planes than Boeing for the first time in 2003 — sees a market for superjumbos carrying passengers via major regional and connecting flights. Boeing, meanwhile, is staking its future on direct point-to-point routes serviced by its 217-seater 7E7 Dreamliner, to be launched in 2008.

Both companies, however, are betting on improved efficiency to win over the airlines.

According to Kracht, Airbus could compensate for the A380's bulge by improving aerodynamic performance to maintain fuel efficiency. "Even assuming it was slightly heavier but on the other side you have better aerodynamics, the end result is that you are meeting performance," she said.

Another option could be to squeeze weight out of plane parts and furnishings such as passenger seats, galleys and toilets.
 
But analysts say components have already been pared to a minimum, with lighter composite materials accounting for a full 20 percent of the A380.

"This is already the most composite-intensive plane ever built," said Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group, a U.S. consulting firm specialized in aviation.

According to Teal, the 319-ton A380 would weigh in at 1,153 pounds per passenger, compared with 913 pounds for a Boeing 747-400. The A380's 656-seater version, to be launched later, comes in at 961 pounds per passenger.

With an airframe built for up to 840 passengers, the A380's 555-seater version was bound to have a weight problem, Aboulafia said, adding that the requirements of launch customer Singapore Airlines were factors in the heavy design and 9,200-mile range.

"Normally you start with a baseline requirement and then stretch or shrink as necessary for the exceptional customer," Aboulafia said. "Here they've started with the exceptional customer."

Airbus already has 129 firm orders for the superjumbo from 11 airlines and insists none will be disappointed.

"We know we're going to meet the performance guarantees we've made to customers," Kracht said.