Update – Airbus A340

As for the test program itself, ground vibration testing of the first prototype commenced in June and will continue during July, before the aircraft is readied for first flight this October; final construction of the second prototype also commenced in June, systems tests are scheduled to begin in September and first flight should be in February 1992; flight testing of all six A340 test aircraft will continue through 1992. Besides the six prototypes, static testing of the abasicA340 airframe commences at Toulouse in September this year, while testing of the wing/centre fuselage fatigue test specimen will commence in Germany in July 1992.

The test aircraft will be of both the -300 variant (aircraft Nos 1, 2, 3 and 5) and longer range -200 (aircraft 4 and 6) and flight testing will involve over 2,000 airborne hours; by comparison, the A320 test program involved four aircraft and 1,670 flight hours (1,200 for certification, the rest in route proving and demonstrations). A340 flight testing should culminate in December 1992 with certification by Europe’s Joint Airworthiness Authorities (JAA). The first production aircraft will then be delivered to Lufthansa in January 1993 and scheduled services will commence the following month.

Design concept

The A340 was designed for and is directly aimed at one specific market: long haul airlines which fly long, thin routes presently uneconomical with either existing trijets (Tristar, DC-10, etc) or the larger Boeing 747. For this reason the A340 does not directly compete with the current generation 7 47-400, but should rather complement it, with several A340 customers also operating the 7 4 7 for higher capacity long distance routes.

To some degree however the A340 does compete with both McDonnell Douglas’ MD-11 and also the growing range of long distance capable twinjets, with which airlines are utilising ETOPS (extended range twin operations) regulations to open up new routes which were once the domain of either the 7 4 7 or the Tristar and DC-10 trijets. A prime example is the south-east Asian services now flown by Qantas 767s, and also the newly introduced AustraliaAsiaAirlines services toTaiwan, a considerable distance which will be flown by a 767-300ER.

However the A340 proviues a longer ranged alternative to these ETOPS approved twinjets. For instance launch customer Lufthansa decided that the additional complexity of ETOPS capable twinjets made their operation less satisfactory than that of the four engined A340. A more recent customer, Japanese carrier ANA, chose amix of the newly launched Boeing 777 twinjet and the four engined A340; despite Boeing’s claims that its aircraft will be an ideal ETOPS capable airliner to operate some of the long sectors flown by ANA (and also the A340), the airline opted to acquire the 777 only for shorter, mainly domestic services, ordering the A340 because it was considered to have that added degree of safety with four engines so the airline did not have to be concerned with gaining ETOPS approval for their operations.

But with engine and airframe technology at the stage where it is now, and with promised engine designs promising even more power and therefore range, more aircraft will receive ETOPS approval and airlines will take advantage of this. Boeing for instance claims that the 777 range will be dramatically increased with planned growth versions. Twinjets are also recognised even by Airbus as being the key to regional airline growth in the rapidly expanding Asian market; four engined airliners will be needed more when the demand allowsairlinestodevelop more long, thin routes connecting with North America and Europe. Airbus are confident that the A340 will be able to take full advantage of this latter situation, while the A330 twinjet (with ETOPS approval) will gain a substantial share of the area’s regional needs.

Variants

The A340 has been designed in two basic variants, the standard fuselage, long range A340-300 and the shorter, ultra long range A340-200; design work on future growth variants is also well advanced. The initial variant to fly and also enter service will be the A340-300, this being the variant of the No 1 prototype and that of Lufthansa’s order.

The A340-300, the standard A340 variant, will typically carry 295 passengers plus freight about 6,750nm. Besides passengers, the -300 has underfloor capacity for either 33 LD3 containers or 11 pallets (though some underfloor space in most aircraft will be taken up by a crew rest station, located in a special container in the forward section of the aircraft), and has a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 253 tonnes (558,900lb). It is this variant which will first enter airline service, however planned modifications will further increase the -300’s range and useability. From January 1995 the A340-300X will be available with 34,000lb thrust engines to provide additional range; no additional fuel tankage will be supplied.

The A340-200 will be the second production variant to roll off the Airbus production line. It is essentially a shortened -300 model capable of carrying 262 passengers 7,550nm. Like the -300, it is powered by CFM56-5C engines (the only engine currently being offered with the A340), however with higher thrust rated enginesto be offered after the mid 1990s, range will also be extended in the -200X variant.

Development of theA340-200X and the – 300X represents only Phase I of the long term A340 development strategy. Several other versions will also ultimately be offered, most incorporating fuselage stretches or other modifications of the standard -300 model. Around the year 2000 the A340-400X will be offered as a significant growth version of the -300. The new model will feature an additional 50 (economy) seats for high capacity transport, however with the present generation of engines it would have a shorter range of only about 5,500nm (10,190km).

The engine situation may however be rectified with the recent announcement by Rolls-Royce that it is considering launching a new family of civil turbofan engines aimed primarily at the A340. The current CFM56-5C turbofans, rated at 31,200Ib thrust with growth capability to 36,000lb thrust, restricts the performance of future A340 variants. Rolls-Royce’s proposed new engine, a “very advanced derivative of the RB211-535, for the moment called the RB211-535E7”, would utilise new technology developed for the ACCORD (advanced civil core demonstrator) program and could well increase the -400X’srange to beyond that of the original A340-300. The present RB211-535 is almost 800kg heavier than the CFM56-5C, so new technology will have to be incorporated to reduce the Rolls engine’s weight.

Other engines for growth variants include the Pratt & Whitney PW2000 advanced ducted prop (ADP) engine for the A340. But whoever the manufacturer is, the new, higher thrust engines must be developed by about 1997 for Airbus to take advantage of them.

Another interesting variant which will at least be able to effectively utilise the present CFM56-5C engines is the A340-300 Combi, which will be the first true Cambi model ever offered by Airbus. Designed for specific low pax/high volume cargo routes, it will be offered from 1997 with a rear fuselage section capable of holding four to six 2. 44 x 3. 18m (96 x 125in) pallets for the carriage of freight. Passenger numbers will be reduced to about 220 in a three class configuration, though a kit will also be offered to allow the aircraft to operate as an all pax airliner. With 220 pax and 31. 2 tonnes (68,800Ib) of cargo, the Combi should be able to fly 5,200nm with full load, or 7,500nm with just pax and baggage.

One other potential commercial A340 variant is the A340-200 “Executive Express”. This would be an ultra long range model, and at least one customer has expressed a strong interest in the project. It would fly business travellers long distances, carrying just 130 pax in a high comfort, 55in pitch seating configuration. At this stage Airbus officials foresee the Express as having similar thrust-rated engines as the standard -200, enabling it to fly for instance London/Darwin, though not yet London to other Australian capital cities, with neither Perth nor Brisbane within range. However Airbus believes it is “well on the way” to achieving London/Sydney, especially if the suggested new A340-400X powerplants are developed. The market for this ultra long range A340 would, however, have to be small.

There remains one other market which may attract some A340 sales – military. Already the German and French air forces have expressed interest in acquiring as many as ten A340s, and Airbus are keen to make such a sale. The Germans already operate a fleet of four Boeing 707-320s, which were acquired new from the production line in the mid 1960s and which still have relatively low hours, however interest has been expressed in acquiring several A340s for use as transports and possibly even tankers. The French armed forces need a long haul jetliner to carry both troops and cargo to distant French territories (a role currently undertaken by DC-8s) and again the A340 is considered ideal. As to why these two armed forces would not rather convert second-hand, older generation commercial airliners, the answer would appear to be that newer, purpose built aircraft requiring fewer maintenance manhours are considered more desirable.

Construction techniques

Like all previous Airbus aircraft, A340 construction entails the use of components built by several Airbus consortium members and subcontractors. A breakdown of key components shows that France’s Aerospatiale is responsible for the centre fuselage, nose and cockpit, engine pylons, ailerons and undercarriage doors; Germany’s MBB the forward and rear sections of the fuselage, vertical stabilisers,wing trailing edges and flaps, and most exit doors; British Aerospace the wings,winglets and main undercarriage doors; Spain’s CASA the horizontal stabilisers and front doors; and Belgium’s Belairbus the wing leading edges.

As with most new generation aircraft,the A340 will utilise a fair degree of composite construction. Key components produced from composites include the vertical stabiliser, horizontal stabilisers, nose radome,fixed leading edge upper and lower panels, winglet fences, ailerons, trailing edge, flaps and spoilers, landing gear doors, and engine pylon fairings and nacelle cowlings.

The A340 also uses technological equipment adapted from other Airbus aircraft,most noticeably the A320. Both the A330 and A340 will share what is essentially the same basic two crew cockpit, which is very similar to that of the current A320. This will effectively allow A330/340 and A320/330 cross crew certification, however probably not A320/340. In addition to having four throttle levers instead of two, the A340 cockpit differs visually from that of the A320 mainly by having a third multi-purpose display and keyboard at the rear of the centre console. Full fly-bywire technology is of course incorporated, having been already well proven in service by the A320.

All components will be transported to the dedicated A330/340 production facility at Toulouse. The production line employs techniques very new to Airbus,not the least being the use of the purpose built, new technology wing-to-fuselage mating jig, which joins the wing and fuselage using robotics,a technique borrowed in concept from vehicle manufacturers. With this new technology having never before been used in aircraft manufacture, Airbus officials are keeping a very close eye on this part of the production process.

Production is expected to proceed at a steady pace, with the added degree of automation on the new production line making the process more efficient. Airbus plans to build 49 A340s in 1993, then 74 A330/340s in 1994, 81 in 1995 and then 77 a year from 1997.

Customers

The order book for the A340 augers well for the type’s future, with customers to date including some big names: Air France (7); Air Portugal (2); ANA (5); Continental (10); Iberia (8); Lufthansa (15); Northwest (20); Sabena (5); Turkish carrier THY (5); UTA (6); leasing organisations GPA (4) and ILFC (2); and eight unannounced orders taking the firm order total to 94, at time of writing. All of these airlines are gearing up to operate the aircraft on their long haul routes, Lufthansa for instance on services from Germany to North America,South America, Africa and Asia. Other customers will no doubt be signed up in the coming months. One airline long considered a potential customer is Qantas, which operates several routes for which the A340 would be ideal, however with the airline’s current financial crisis no orders for new aircraft types are expected in the near future.

The Airbus A340 is destined to be a winner in its particular market sector; the orders taken to date are significant, and with the aircraft soon commencing flight testing and airline industry recovery predicted from next year on, there is no doubt that the A340 will be transporting passengers around the world well into the next century.