Four Flights Total Nearly 26,000 Miles

Five days... four VERY long flights. An Airbus A380 took off from Toulouse, France Friday morning, for the fourth and last of the planned Early Long Flights test series. At 15-hours in duration, the final flight was also the longest planned trek in a series of test "ELF" passenger flights.

As Aero-News reported, the series of kicked off Monday, September 4 with a seven-hour flight, using an all-Airbus crew and employee volunteers as passengers. That was followed the next day by a 10-hour flight, and the overnight Wednesday into Thursday with a 12-hour trek. In all, 1,900 lucky "passengers" flew on the four flights.

Airbus reports all four flights went smoothly, with the aircraft operating as expected.

"The flights have all gone very well and it has been a real pleasure to fly Airbus employees for their first trip on the A380", said Claude Lelaie, Head of Airbus Flight Operations. "Despite the cabins being almost totally full, what was most striking was the impression of spaciousness. Another striking feature is its outstanding quietness, " he added.

Passengers were asked to fill in a questionnaire giving their impressions on cabin systems including air conditioning, lighting, acoustics, in-flight entertainment (IFE), galleys, electrics, toilets and water waste systems. Airbus states the comments were extremely positive.

The aircraft was configured in three classes in order to test different cabin layout options and seat arrangements, and the flights operated in standard airline conditions (Cold meals? Late arrivals? Missing baggage? -- Ed.)

Airbus reports average cruise speed during the flights was 0.85 mach, with the aircraft reaching its cruise ceiling of 43,000 feet.

Overall, the four flights totaled over 25,900 miles in distance -- a little more than one trip around the world. To date, the A380 test program has reached 2,000 flight hours in 616 flights, since the first flight in April 2005.

Airbus reports 159 firm orders from a total of 16 customers... who are likely breathing a sigh of relief right now, as they see the A380 apparently lives up to Airbus's claims for the largest commercial passenger aircraft currently flying.

Singapore Airlines is due to receive its first A380 later this year.

FMI: www.airbus.com