Planespotters get first glimpse of giant Airbus
Aviation enthusiasts took a peek into the future yesterday when Airbus' giant new A380 aircraft emerged from Hong Kong's polluted skies to make its first landing at Chek Lap Kok.
The aircraft - the third unit to roll off the production line in Toulouse, France - flew to Hong Kong on a stringent flight-testing routine that will see five of the planes circle the world three times in 18 days before the A380's expected certification for commercial use next month.
Top airline executives rubbed shoulders with die-hard planespotters as an excited throng jostled to get a first look at the 555-seat aircraft, expected to revolutionise the industry from both the consumer and operator perspectives.
'We have been waiting for this aircraft for many years. It will enhance our hub position,' said David Pang Ding-jung, chief executive of the Hong Kong Airport Authority. 'It will help us to bring the 1.3 billion Chinese living on the mainland to the world. And it will help us bring the world to China.'
Despite keen interest from both the public and private sectors, Airbus has struggled to bring the A380 to market, last month announcing the third delay to the delivery of the first aircraft to Singapore Airlines (SIA). It originally planned to have 11 aircraft delivered by year-end, but SIA will not now receive the first aircraft for another 11 months.
Delivery schedules to other buyers such as Emirates - which ordered 43 A380s - and Qantas have been delayed up to two years.
Airbus has not disclosed how much the delays will cost the company and its shareholders.
Top management has increased the company's break-even point to 420 units from the original 250, suggesting it will have to generate US$35 billion in extra sales to compensate for the cost overruns, based on a 30 per cent discount to the A380's average list price that is routinely given to buyers.
'[The 420 units to break even] is a very conservative outlook. It may not be as severe as that,' said Richard Carcaillet, of Airbus' A380 marketing division. 'Assumptions have been made about compensation [to the airlines for late deliveries] and provisions were included for what the costs are expected to be.'
The manufacturer's struggles did little to dampen the excitement at the airport yesterday when a surprisingly sleek A380 rolled up to Gate 62 - one of five gates equipped to handle the new giant.
'I was only eight years old when the first Boeing 747 arrived in Hong Kong. It was a really stunning experience,' said James Ng Pong-mau, an officer at the Airport Authority
The authority has spent HK$100 million preparing the airport for the A380. Comparisons with the B747, which made its first commercial flight in 1970, are seen as inevitable because the Boeing aircraft was the last model to alter radically the industry's economics as well as the levels of comfort offered to passengers on long-haul flights.
According to Airbus, the standard configuration of 555 seats will give airlines 35 per cent more seats to sell, but it will burn 17 per cent less fuel per seat - or 2.9 litres for every 100km flown per seat - than the B747-400.
'The comfort in all classes of the cabin will be unprecedented. It also will be the quietest cabin ever,' Mr Carcaillet said. 'From the airlines' perspective, it is a step in redefining their economics on the trunk routes between the world's busiest cities.'
Cathay Pacific Airways has yet to order the A380.
