Concerns about turbulence behind Airbus' new A380 superjumbo might mean longer waits between take-off times when the airliner takes to the skies next year, the company's chief executive said. | Another nail in it's coffin |
Responding to a report in the Wall Street Journal Europe that industry regulators are concerned about the wake created by the A380, Gustav Humbert said that longer separation times between aircraft might initially be introduced "as a precautionary measure" before being reduced. "It's possible that they (regulators) say 'let's have entry to service of the A380 with longer separation times' as a precautionary measure and then reduce them," the European aircraft maker's chief executive told journalists on the sidelines of the Dubai air show. | Close the distance till you get a crash, then back off. |
The report in the WSJE, quoting preliminary safety guidelines from the International Civil Aviation Organization, said that airliners may have to fly at least twice the normal distance behind the A380 to avoid possible danger from vortex turbulence in its wake. The overall effect of a rule delaying the arrival of following aircraft would be to increase congestion at hub airports and reduce a cost-advantage selling point of the A380, which is to increase efficiency at congested mainline airports, the newspaper said.
Gumbert said that longer separation distances had also been introduced when the 747 jumbo was launched by Boeing in 1970. "Even if at the beginning they do it like for the 747, we should not be surprised," he said.
The report in the WSJE said that the standards put out by the aviation organzation this month were provisional and probably more cautious than formal rules expected next year. The Airbus A380 can carry up to about 850 passengers and is due to go into service next year. The ICAO report said that the "significantly stronger" turbulence left by the superjumbo, compared to the draft left by smaller airliners, indicated that the minimum distance left by following aircraft when landing should be 10 nautical miles instead of five, and that the distance in the air should be 15 miles. | When they're trying to land as many planes as quickly as possible, this is a bad thing |
The report quoted a spokesman for the German airline Lufthansa as saying that the airline operated at congested airports and that "it is crucial for us that the separation is the same as for a (Boeing) 747". |