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AIRBUS:
FROM A SINGLE AIRCRAFT TO A COMPLETE
FAMILY
 By
taking the right decisions at the start, Airbus has
been able to create a complete range of aircraft
that exceed the expectations of passengers, pilots
and operators -- all within 30 years. Airbus was
established in 1970 as a European consortium of
French, German and later, Spanish and U.K
companies, as it became clear that only by
co-operating would European aircraft manufacturers
be able to compete effectively with the U.S.
giants. By overcoming national divides, sharing
development costs, collaborating in the interests
of a greater market share, and even agreeing a
common set of measurements and a common language,
Airbus changed the face of the business, and
brought airlines, passengers and crews the benefits
of real competition. In 2001, thirty years after
its creation, Airbus formally became a single
integrated company, thus passing another major
milestone in its history of achievements.
 The
European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company
(EADS), (resulting from the merger between
Aerospatiale Matra SA of France, Daimler Chrysler
Aerospace AG of Germany and Construcciones
Aeronauticas SA of Spain), and BAE SYSTEMS of the
UK, transferred all of their Airbus-related assets
to the newly incorporated company and, in exchange,
became shareholders in Airbus with 80 per cent and
20 per cent respectively of the new
stock.
The co-operation between the
different entities that make up Airbus today goes
back to the 1920s. Construcciones Aeronauticas S.A.
(CASA) of Spain built seaplanes under licence from
German company Dornier and worked with the French
on the Bréguet XIX. Then in the 1950s, a
number of Franco-German aviation projects saw the
light of day. The 1960s saw the first real
co-operative effort between French and German
aircraft manufacturers on the Transall, followed by
the Concorde adventure between the French and the
British.
This was also a time of
close contacts between CASA and
Messerschmidt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). MBB formed
the core of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) in
1989 and then CASA, Dasa and Aerospatiale Matra
S.A. together formed EADS in 2000.
The Airbus GIE (or
Groupement d'Intérêt Economique), a
form of consortium under French law, was officially
created at the end of 1970 to establish a formal
co-operation among the GIE's partners and to
provide a single sales, marketing and support
interface for Airbus customers.
The two full partners in the
original consortium were Aerospatiale for France
and Deutsche Aerospace for Germany. Hawker Siddeley
and Fokker were also associated with the programme
and CASA of Spain became a full member of the GIE
in 1971.
Initially headquartered in
Paris, the GIE moved to Toulouse in 1974. British
Aerospace became a full partner in 1979.
Airbus' first aircraft, the
A300B, was launched at the 1969 Paris air show. It
was the first widebody twinjet and could carry 226
passengers in a comfortable two-class lay-out. A
stretched 250 seat version, the A300B2, requested
by launch customer Air France, went into full scale
production.
By 1974, the A300 had been
certified on budget and ahead of schedule &endash;
a major first for European companies at the time.
By the end of 1975, Airbus had 10 per cent of the
market and a total of 55 aircraft on order. The
company then went through a dark period, during
which it failed to secure any new orders. Finally,
US airline Eastern Airlines decided to lease four
A300B4s.
This was a turning point,
and from then on, Airbus never looked back. Within
two years, Airbus had 133 firm orders and market
share had risen to 26 per cent by value. By the end
of 1979, Airbus had 256 orders from 32 customers
and 81 aircraft in service with 14
operators.
In July 1978, Airbus
launched the A310, a shortened version of the A300
seating 218 passengers in a standard, two-class
configuration. The aircraft featured the first ever
two-man cockpit equipped with six cathode ray tubes
displays replacing the older dials.
No longer was Airbus a
one-aircraft manufacturer. It was set to expand and
to create a complete range of airliners.
Following this bold stroke,
British Aerospace - which had taken over
Hawker-Siddeley - became a full partner in the
Airbus consortium in 1979. All the major European
manufacturers were now firmly united and ready to
challenge the U.S. industry.
That same year, Airbus
decided to incorporate the 130-170 seat single
aisle aircraft, on which the partners had been
working outside the consortium, into its aircraft
family. This project became the A320, which filled
out the Airbus product line and allowed Airbus to
compete for replacements of ageing U.S.-built
aircraft in that category, in service worldwide at
the time.
The A320, launched in 1984,
was the first all-new design in its category in 30
years. Incorporating new technologies, the aircraft
provided better operating efficiency, better
performance and - above all - greater passenger
comfort thanks to a wider fuselage cross-section.
It was the first commercial aircraft to feature
'fly-by-wire' controls and side sticks. It set the
standard for all subsequent Airbus cockpits and
indeed for the industry as a whole.
The introduction of
fly-by-wire also enabled Airbus to develop a family
of aircraft sharing the same cockpit and the same
flight handling characteristics.
The A320 was followed in
1989 by the A321, a lengthened version, seating 185
passengers in a standard three class configuration,
and, in 1992, by a 124-seat version - the A319. The
single-aisle Family was completed in 1999 with the
introduction of the 107-seat A318.
The decision to launch the
A320 proved a wise one. In spite of the recession
of the mid 80s, the aircraft anticipated market
demand for a modern, cost-efficient aircraft to
replace older planes when the economy turned round.
The new A320 was quickly chosen by Air France,
British Caledonian, Adria Airways, Air Inter and
Cyprus Airways. Today, it is one of Airbus'
best-selling aircraft, popular with passengers and
carriers alike.
By 1987, it was clear to
Airbus that the time was ripe to launch not one,
but two larger aircraft in a single programme. The
market was ready for a twin engine, medium-haul
aircraft as well as a long range, four engine,
airliner.
The two new airliners shared
the same airframe, the same wing design and the
same popular twin-aisle cross-section as the
A300/A310, incorporating the proven fly-by-wire
controls of the A320.
When the four-engine A340
entered service in 1993, it was the first entirely
new, long-haul aircraft to start commercial
operations for more than 20 years. The twin-engine
A330 which joined it a year later combined some of
the lowest operating costs of any aircraft ever
designed with maximum flexibility for a wide range
of route structures.
Two additional versions of
the A340, the A340-500 and the A340-600, have been
developed in close collaboration with airlines. The
A340-600 achieved certification in May 2002 and
entered airline service in August while its
sibling, the A340-500, achieved certification in
December 2002.
In December 2000, Airbus
launched the 555-seat A380 programme at the top end
of the spectrum. This all-new double-decker
aircraft is the most advanced, spacious and
efficient airliner ever conceived, and the solution
to growing traffic between major hubs.
The A380 will provide 15 to
20 per cent lower operating costs, 10 to 15 per
cent more range, lower fuel burn, less noise and
lower emissions than the largest aircraft flying
today.
http://www.airbus.com/
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