Airbus A380 Production » MSN052

A380 Production Update: July 2010 (#3)

Oliver Gigacz — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:01:11 +0000

Late last week, Emirates eleventh A380 (MSN030) was delivered to the airline at a ceremony in Toulouse.

This now makes Emirates the largest operator of the A380 with eleven SuperJumbo’s in its fleet, while Singapore Airlines has ten, Qantas has six, Air France has three and Lufthansa has one.

Late last week also saw the return of MSN052 (Air France #5) to the flightline. MSN052 had been spending the last month or two in the flightline hangars where she had some Final Assembly work done.

Images Courtesy of Jean-Claude MAURAN and David BARRIE

A380 Production Update: May 2010 (#16)

Oliver Gigacz — Mon, 31 May 2010 10:46:28 +0000

A photo has been uploaded to flickr which is giving us a good look at what is going on in the “Stage 2″ area of Final Assembly.

The three frames that can be seen in this photo are MSN065 (Singapore Airlines #13), MSN064 (Air France #6) and MSN071 (Singapore Airlines #14). All of these frames still have quite a lot of work to go, So we won’t expect to see them on the flightline for a month or two.

We can confirm that MSN057 (Emirates #15) will be the next A380 to transfer to Hamburg, as MSN052 (Air France #5) still has part of it’s APU missing and MSN055 (Qantas #9) is missing at least one escape slide.

Images Courtesy of matze-man

A380 Production Update: May 2010 (#14)

Oliver Gigacz — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:39:27 +0000

This week has seen the roll out of three A380′s from the Final Assembly Line. This is great news, as the previous roll out (MSN056) was almost two months ago.

MSN052 (Air France #5) is one of the three, and was rolled out early in week. Earlier this year MSN052 was put into short term storage at the request of Air France. But now she is back on track.

Also rolling out this week, was MSN057 (Emirates #15). If you can remember earlier in the year MSN057 spent a few weeks on the flightline, while waiting for a spot in second stage Final Assembly.

And last but not least, MSN055 (Qantas #9) which was rolled out late yesterday evening.

MSN055 is the frame on the right.

All Images are Courtesy of DigitalAirliners.com
P.S. There will be more detailed information on each of these frames next week.

A380 Production Update: April 2010 (#15)

Oliver Gigacz — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:00:25 +0000

MSN065 (Singapore Airlines #13) has been spotted on the flightline, Fresh from Body Join. The frame is waiting for MSN057 (Emirates #15) to finish final assembly, which should be next week. You can see the tail of MSN065 in the picture below.

MSN052 (Air France #5) finally entered Final Assembly yesterday. MSN052 is scheduled for completion in early July.

MSN047 (Qantas #7) is scheduled to be transferred to Hamburg on either Monday or Tuesday. She was originally scheduled to be transferred this week, but was delayed due to Iceland’s Volcano.

MSN047′s sister-ship, MSN050 (Qantas #8) is scheduled to be transferred to Hamburg in mid May.

Image Copyright of David Barrie

A380 Production Update: April 2010 (#4)

Oliver Gigacz — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:53:07 +0000

Last night I received an email from an insider at Airbus, giving us first and ferry flight details the next few A380s. (All dates are subject to change)

MSN047 (Qantas #7) – Ferry Flight – April 15th
MSN048 (Lufthansa #4) – First Flight – April 15th – Ferry Flight – April 21st
MSN056 (Emirates #14) – First Flight – April 23rd – Ferry Flight – April 29th
MSN057 (Emirates #15) – First Flight – May 25th – Ferry Flight – June 3rd
MSN052 (Air France #5) – First Flight – August 9th – Ferry Flight – September 27th

Convoy #6/2010 began late last night and is on schedule to arrive in Toulouse early on April 8th.

A380 Production Update: April 2010 (#2)

Oliver Gigacz — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 02:45:15 +0000

To finish off the week, a surprise. MSN056 (Emirates #14) has finished Final Assembly and is now situated on the flightline next to MSN047 (Qantas #7). This really was a real surprise to us, as we thought MSN052 (Air France #5) would be completed first. This makes two A380s to jump ahead of MSN052, the first being MSN042 (Emirates #13).

MSN056 can be seen behind MSN047.

MSN048 (Lufthansa #4) is now going through final checks, prior to it’s first engine run late next week.

We mentioned in our last post, That MSN002 (Private) is to be stored on the flightline until 2012. Well due the large number of A380s already on the flightline, MSN002 has been transferred to a hangar.

Images Courtesy of DigitalAirliners

A380 Production Update: March 2010 (#5)

Oliver Gigacz — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:57:11 +0000

This week is looking to be a very quiet week. So for the moment we will be posting an production update from the Toulouse line.

MSN047 (Qantas #7) will roll out on Tuesday.
MSN048 (Lufthansa #4) is complete and will roll out late this week.
MSN050 (Qantas #9) is still on scheduled to roll out in early April.
MSN052 (Air France #5) is scheduled to roll out late this week or early next week.
MSN056 (Emirates #14) is scheduled to roll out in late April.
MSN057 (Emirates #15) is scheduled to roll out in the middle of June.
MSN071 (Singapore Airlines #14) will start body join on Wednesday.

A380 Production Update: March 2010 (#4)

Oliver Gigacz — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:43:07 +0000

Convoy #5/2010 has been announced and is scheduled to arrive in Toulouse on the 24th March. Convoy #5 will be carrying the Center and Rear Fuselage for MSN064 (Air France #6).

In our last post we mentioned that spotters in Toulouse reportedly claimed that MSN042 (Emirates #12) was on the flightline. We can now confirm this is true and that MSN042 is complete.

The roll out of MSN042 is a surprise to us as MSN042 arrived in Toulouse after MSN048 (Lufthansa #4) and MSN052 (Air France #5). We are unsure if Emirates requested that MSN042 be put ahead of MSN048 and MSN052, or if there were delays in the production of MSN048 and MSN052.

MSN048 is on target to be rolled out late this week.

Last Thursday night MSN057 (Emirates #15) reentered Final Assembly after a months stay on the flightline waiting for MSN042 to be completed.

A380 Production Update: March 2010 (#3)

Oliver Gigacz — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:57:31 +0000

Convoy #4/2010 has arrived in Toulouse bringing a Center and Rear Fuselage for MSN071 (Singapore Airlines #14). A tail plane, also for MSN071 arrived with the convoy.

Convoy #4 also carried a Forward Fuselage and a Wing Pair for MSN064 (Air France #6).

This is a surprise to us as MSN066 (Lufthansa #6) and MSN031 (China Southern #1) were both scheduled to be convoyed ahead of MSN064.

In other A380 news, the roll out of MSN047 (Qantas #07), MSN048 (Lufthansa #4) and MSN052 (Air France #5) has been delayed into this week.

Several spotters have reported that MSN042 (Emirates #13) is on the flightline. We cannot confirm or deny this at this stage.

MSN043 (Air France #3) will begin cabin test flights in Hamburg this week. MSN043 is currently scheduled to be delivered later in the month.

MSN051 (Singapore Airlines #11) will also start cabin test flights soon. Test flights will probably start late this week or early next week.

A380 Production Update: March 2010 (#1)

Oliver Gigacz — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:08:52 +0000

March is here (Already) so we thought it would be a good idea to give you an overview of the current production line. So here it is…

Toulouse Production:
MSN002 (Private) – Currently in Refitting Hangar.
MSN042 (Emirates #13) – In Second Second Stage of Final Assembly and is Scheduled to Be Rolled Out in late March.
MSN047 (Qantas #7) – Engines Have Been Re Installed and Should Roll Out this week.
MSN048 (Lufthansa #4) – Completed and will be Rolled Out this week.
MSN050 (Qantas #8) – Being Stored in a Flightline Hangar until May.
MSN052 (Air France #5) – Completed and will be Rolled Out this week.
MSN055 (Qantas #9) – First Stage of Final Assembly. Parts of Final Assembly Will be done in a Flightline Hangar.
MSN056 (Emirates #14) – Second Stage of Final Assembly.
MSN057 (Emirates #15) – Waiting for slot in Second Stage of Final Assembly.
MSN058 (Singapore Airlines #12) – Waiting for Slot in First Stage of Final Assembly.
MSN061 (Lufthansa #5) – First Stage of Final Assembly.
MSN062 (Qantas #10) – First Stage of Final Assembly.
MSN065 (Singapore Airlines #13) – Body Join has Begun and is Scheduled to take 10 days.

Hamburg Production:
MSN009 (Emirates #9) – Delivery Scheduled for May.
MSN028 (Emirates #10) – Delivery Scheduled for June.
MSN030 (Emirates #11) – Delivery Scheduled for July.
MSN038 (Lufthansa #1) – Delivery Scheduled for 10th May.
MSN041 (Lufthansa #2) – Delivery Scheduled for June.
MSN043 (Air France #3) – Delivery Scheduled for April.
MSN044 (Lufthansa #3) – Delivery Scheduled for Q3 2010.
MSN046 (Emirates #12) – Delivery Scheduled for August.
MSN049 (AIr France #4) – Delivery Scheduled for Q3 2010,
MSN051 (Singapore Airlines #11) – Delivery Scheduled for Late March.

Convoy’s:
The next new frames to be Convoyed to Toulouse are scheduled to be.
MSN031 (China Southern #1)
MSN066 (Lufthansa #6)
MSN069 (Lufthansa #7)
MSN035 (Korean Air #1)

First Stage of Final Assembly = Installation of Electronic Components that Control the Aircraft and Installation of Fuel Tanks.

Second Stage of Final Assembly = Installation of Engines, Belly Fairing and all other Facilities in and outside the Aircraft.

Roll Out = Moved from the Final Assembly Line to the Flightline.