Airbus Already Claims Success
As It Debuts the A340-600 Here

The 380-seat, long-range A340-600, the longest and largest airliner so far built by Airbus, and its first new aircraft type to be completed since the consortium's transformation into a single, fully integrated company earlier this year, is making its public debut at the Paris Air Show.

"With 124 orders from 11 airlines in the last year amounting to 59% of the market in this category, it is already an undoubted success," says Alan Pardoe, director of product marketing for the Airbus A330/A340 family.

Pardoe sees the Airbus sales run ending the 32-year monopoly of the sector by Boeing's 747-with equal levels of passenger enthusiasm and a new level of aircraft sophistication.
No passengers will be more than one seat from an aisle and there should be no more elbow contests for shared armrests.

There will be 75-inch headroom with the longer, more spacious luggage lockers closed, or 65-inches with them open; and window seats will be roomier.

Whatever interiors Virgin, Air Canada and the A340-600's other airline customers adopt, Airbus says that the ergonomics, height, reach, and spaciousness, will significantly reduce the stress of boarding and deplaning.

Flight attendants will control cabin ambience via 15-inch LCD touch screens, and there will be variable "good mood" illumination including better light for reading.

Lower deck space-reached by staircase from the main cabin-can provide bed compartments, lounge-bar, business center and bigger, better toilets-with windows!

Flight crew rest facilities for 18-hour long-haul routes can be accommodated there too using modular, easily removable units; the A340-600 can also fill its belly, without lining panels, with 14 full-sized pallet positions amounting with capacity of up to 60 tons-which, according to Pardoe, is about twice the cargo capacity of a passenger 747.

Up above, first-class passengers can experience the unique cabin customizing opportunities of a business executive jet.

So what happens while all this comfort is going on?

The A340-600 will use only 56,000 pounds of its four Rolls-Royce Trent engines' certified 60,000-pounds-thrust for fuel efficiency and longer maintenance intervals, but they will carry it higher, faster, at Mach .83 cruise, over 7,500 nmi for such direct services as U.S. West coast to Europe, U.S.-Asia, and Europe-South America. Rolls' Trent 500 is the sole engine specified for the aircraft.

And it can fly inhospitable great circle routes, free of the ETOPS restrictions on current long-haul twin-jets.

Its companion A340-500, an ultra long range version, will carry 313 passengers in standard three-class layout over distances of 8,650 nmi-farther than any other commercial jetliner in service.
Three of the new A340s are to be employed in flight testing this year, with the second due to make its first flight this month, and the third, with cabin installed, in November.

Maiden flight of the A340-500 is scheduled for the first quarter next year followed by Virgin's bringing the -600 into service in mid 2002.

By Steve Morris