Airbus seeks to allay concerns about A380 safety

Last weekend, the European Aviation Safety Agency had ordered inspections on almost a third of the superjumbo fleet, or 20 aircraft, in operation across the globe after Airbus disclosed two sets of cracks on its A380s just two weeks apart.

The second type of cracks on the wings of the 525-seat double-decker passenger jet, which entered service just four years ago, was "more significant" and could develop on other aircraft if the problem is not addressed, Airbus said.

However, Tom Williams, the company's executive vice president of programmes, was quoted by Reuters yesterday saying that the company has determined what it needs to do to repair the cracks and that the A380 is 'safe to fly'.

Airbus expects most of the aircraft being tested to show similar evidence of cracks, but it says the repairs will be simple. To deal with the cracking problem, Airbus is changing its manufacturing processes to ensure smooth operation until at least the next four-year maintenance checks.

A total of 253 A380s have been ordered by 19 customers, with Emirates, which has ordered 90, being by far the biggest. Dubai-based Emirates has said it was inspecting planes as needed and has declined to offer further comment.

John Strickland, aviation analyst with JLS Consulting, says it is too early to tell how this incident will impact Airbus. "The immediate issues are how many aircraft would be affected and how much down time is required. It seems so far to be limited to about 20 aircraft, and they've only needed to be down for about 24 hours," he said.

Gulf carriers account for almost half all the orders for the Superjumbo, as Qatar Airways and Etihad each have ten orders for the aircraft on their books, in addition to the 90 on order from Emirates. But for now, Strickland says he does not expect any of these carriers to change their order books for the superjumbo.

"At this stage, with the knowledge we have it doesn't look like the kind of thing that is going to cause further delays in production or prompt carriers to change orders," he said. "While there have already been some delays with this aircraft, order levels are moderate - Airbus are not facing the kind of backlog that Boeing has to deal with its 787 problems."

Saj Ahmad, chief analyst for StrategicAero Research, says the carrier at the very least the carrier will need to answer questions about its production processes. "Airbus may well have identified a fix for the wing bracket cracks, but to discover these after four year since service entry means that the company still hasn't managed to resolve production issues," he said.

"No doubt Gulf carriers are concerned not just because they have the largest A380 fleet at present but also because of their high utilisation which is equally affecting the durability of parts in the wing that simply aren't cut out to do the job they were designed to do.

Ahmad continued: "While thankfully it's not a safety of flight issue, questions are rightfully being asked if the A380 is still an immature product at service entry and whether Airbus has really identified all the engineering gremlins in it as they continue to battle against the excess weight the airplane has. Further engineering discoveries are likely to emerge as time goes on so Airbus really has to restore confidence in its build process which to date, is lacking significantly given A380 operator concerns.