Future Airbus Deriviatives

The smaller A310, which is proving as attractive to customers as the A300, is now at the stage where the first long lead items have been ordered, equipment selection is complete and, also, models are being tested in wind tunnels. Section mock-ups, master models as well as jigs and tools are being manufactured at various partners’ plants.

Three projects are at present being studied concurrently. They are:

• The TA9 (for Twin Aisle – formerly known as the 89), which has a stretched fuselage compared with the A300 and will seat about 300 passengers in a standard cabin layout. As the only twin-engined, medium-range aircraft accommodating the same number of passengers as existing wide-body trijets, the TA9 will be unbeatable in terms of economics, with a lower fuel consumption per seat/mile of roughly 20 per cen.

• The TA11 (Twin Aisle 11, formerly 811) will be a multi-engined (three or four) very long-range 200- seater, using a shorter fuselage than that of the A300, with a larger wing. This aircraft will find a good market if the trend toward increased city pairs traffic continues to develop, particularly as a result of deregulation.

• The SA (Single Aisle – formerly JET), which is a short to medium range, twin-engined aircraft seating between 120 and 170 passengers, six abreast with one aisle in a standard configuration, depending on the version – i. e. , SA 1, SA2 or SA3. Since the SA will replace existing twin and three-engined narrow-bodies of the older generation, it must have sufficient technical advantage over existing aircraft, so that its much lower operating costs compensate for the higher investment.

A decision as to which of the three models will come first and when it will come is dependent upon the market. Nevertheless, a decision can be expected in the second half of this year.

Meanwhile, as a consequence of increasing sales and in order to cope with future market requirements Airbus lndustrie has decided to speed up the production rate for the A300 and the A310, both of which are being produced on one assembly line.

Monthly output, which was two A300s at the beginning of 1979, is now three. It will continue to increase, reaching four in 1981, 5. 5 in 1982, 6. 5 in 1983, eight in 1984 and 10 in 1985.

This will be achieved by mobilising the manufacturing resources of Airbus lndustrie’s partners, the assets of which total over $US7 billion.

Airbus lndustrie will acquire two new Super Guppies in addition to the two at present in use to feed finished assemblies to the final assembly line at the Aerospatiale facility at Toulouse France. The huge cargo aircraft can carry the entire wing of an A300 in its fuselage.

The number of workers engaged in the production of the A300 and A310 will be significantly increased. At present, some 17,000 people work on the A300 and A310 programs within the partner companies and this figure will reach 40,000 to 45,000 by the middle of the 1980s.