Airbus Aircraft Family Overview

Technological innovation has been at the core of Airbus’ strategy since its creation. Each product in the Airbus family is intended to set new standards in areas crucial to airlines’ success, such as cabin comfort, cargo capacity performance, economic performance, environmental impact and operational commonality. Airbus innovations often provide distinct competitive advantages, with many becoming standard in the aircraft industry. Key examples include fly-by-wire controls, aircraft commonality and the introduction of widebody twin-engine aircraft.

A300/A310 Family
The A300 was the original aircraft launched by Airbus in 1969, and was the world’s first twin-engine twin aisle commercial aircraft at the time. From the 250-300 seat A300 the family expanded to include the 200-250 seat A310, new build and converted freighters, combi/mixed configuration aircraft, air tankers and military transport versions.

Currently, the A300-600 Freighter (A300-600F) is the only member of the A300/A310 Family still in production. Despite its popularity with major express courier providers and airlines, such as FedEx, UPS and Air Hong Kong, Airbus announced in March 2006 that the last A300-600F would be delivered in July 2007.

In 2006, 9 A300-600Fs were delivered.

A320 Family
With more than 5,000 aircraft sold and 3,000 currently in service, the A320 Family has proven extremely popular with customers, offering high standards of cabin comfort, technology and economic performance. Its success with low-cost airlines in particular demonstrates the economic appeal of the A320 Family.

Within this family, four identical aircraft of different lengths, the A318, A319, A320 and A321, share the same systems, cockpit, operating procedures and cross-section. The A320 Family covers the market from 100 to 220 seats, flying routes up to 3000 nm/5700 km.

In 2006, Airbus received 673 firm orders for the A320 Family of aircraft, and delivered 339 to customers.

A330/A340 Family
With more than 1,000 aircraft sold and 793 currently in service, the A330/A340 Family is Airbus’ solution for regional, long-range and ultra long-range travel, designed to carry between 250 to 350 passengers. The A330/A340 Family concept is unique: one airframe is powered by either two or four engines. The twin-engine A330 offers attractive economic performance for regional and long-range routes, while the four-engine A340 can perform on the most demanding long-range and ultra long-range routes.

The A330/A340 Family is composed of six passenger versions. Each shares the same 222-inch fuselage cross-section, cockpit and other advanced features, delivering the commonality that encourages airlines to adopt the most efficient mix of aircraft for their networks. The A330/A340 Family offers high levels of passenger comfort as well as large underfloor cargo areas.

Launched in January 2007, the A330-200F will be a new mid-size, long-haul freighter and the latest addition to the A330/A340 Family. Capable of carrying 64 tonnes over 4,000nm/7,400 km, or 69 tonnes up to 3200 nm/5930 km, the A330-200F is aimed at replacing the ageing 50 to 70 tonne aircraft in the market (such as ageing DC8Fs and DC10Fs). The range of the A330-200F will offer airlines the opportunity to increase services in low frequency long-haul markets currently served with much larger aircraft, develop new routes and respond to market growth. Entry into service is planned for the second half of 2009.

In 2006, Airbus received 119 firm orders for the A330/A340 Family of aircraft, and delivered 86 to customers.

A350XWB
At the end of 2006, Airbus launched its new offering in the medium capacity long-range aircraft market, the A350XWB series, which will accommodate between 270 to 350 passengers and is expected to enter service in 2013.

The A350XWB builds on the A380 cockpit and systems. It is designed for a high cruise speed, with the latest generation engines and a robust structure. The A350XWB is designed to deliver superior levels of fuel and economic efficiency, with low environmental impact.

The A350XWB received 2 firm orders and 40 commitments in 2006, with 100 firm orders and 82 commitments remaining for the former A350 aircraft at the end of the year.

A380
The A380 is the most spacious aircraft ever conceived, and represents Airbus’ entry into the very large aircraft market. Its new cross-section provides a flexible and innovative cabin space, allowing passengers to benefit from wider seats, wider aisles and more floor space, tailored to the needs of each airline. Seating 555 passengers in three classes and with a range of 8000 nm/19,400 km, the A380 offers superior economic performance, lower fuel consumption, less noise and reduced emissions.

In addition to the passenger version, Airbus has started development on a freighter version of the A380, the A380F. With three cargo decks, the A380F will be able to offer more payload (up to 158 tonnes), greater range (5,600 nautical miles) and the lowest unit cost of any large freighter currently in the market. Recently, Airbus announced that development of the A380F had been rescheduled. See “Recent Developments”.

During 2006, Airbus twice revised its delivery schedule for the A380 after having encountered difficulties in the installation of the aircraft’s electrical harnesses. Nevertheless, repeat firm orders for the A380 were placed by Singapore Airlines and Qantas for nine and eight aircraft, respectively. However, FedEx cancelled its order for ten A380F freighters as a result of the delivery delays. Accordingly, the total number of orders and commitments received for the A380 at the end of 2006 stood at 166 from 15 customers, with the first A380 due to be delivered to the first operator, Singapore Airlines, in October 2007.

The Family Concept – Commonality across the Fleet

Airbus’ aircraft families promote fleet commonality. This philosophy takes a central aircraft and tailors it to create derivatives to meet the needs of specific market segments. This approach means that all new-generation Airbus aircraft (i.e., excluding the A300/310) share the same cockpit design, fly-by-wire controls and handling characteristics. Pilots can transfer among any aircraft within the Airbus family with minimal additional training. Cross-crew qualification (CCQ) across families of aircraft provides airlines with significant operational flexibility. In addition, the emphasis on fleet commonality permits aircraft operators to realise significant cost savings in crew training, spare parts, maintenance and aircraft scheduling.

The extent of cockpit commonality within and across families of aircraft is a unique feature of Airbus that, in Management’s opinion, constitutes a sustainable competitive advantage.

Technical Product Overviews

Short- and medium-range single aisle aircraft: the A320 Family. Airbus’ family of single aisle aircraft, based on the A320 (which entered service in 1988 following a development programme launched in 1984), includes the A318, A319 and A321 derivatives, as well as the A319 based Airbus Corporate Jetliner and A318 Elite business jet, which Airbus launched in 1997 and 2005, respectively.

At 3.96 metres diameter, the A320 Family has the widest fuselage cross-section of any competing single aisle aircraft. This provides a roomy passenger cabin, a high comfort level and a more spacious underfloor cargo volume than its competitors. The A320 Family incorporates digital fly-by-wire controls, an ergonomic cockpit and a lightweight carbon fibre composite horizontal stabiliser. The use of composite material has also been extended to the vertical stabiliser. The A320 Family’s competitor is the Boeing 737 series.

New Product Development: A400M

Airbus’ Military Programme Directorate performs research and development related to the A400M project as an outsource provider to Airbus Military S.L. The Military Transport Aircraft A400M is described in “Military Transport Aircraft — Products — Military Transport Aircraft/Special Mission Aircraft on Transport Aircraft Platforms — Airbus A400M”.

Asset Management

The Airbus Asset Management Division was established in 1994 to manage and re-market used aircraft acquired by Airbus, originally as a result of customer bankruptcies, and subsequently in the context of certain buy-back commitments. The Division operates with a dedicated staff and manages a fleet comprised of Airbus aircraft across the range of models. Through its activities, the Asset Management Division helps Airbus respond more efficiently to the medium and long-term fleet requirements of its customers.

Its key roles comprise the commercial and risk management of the Airbus portfolio of used aircraft. Most of the aircraft are available to customers for cash sale, while some can only be offered on operating lease, depending on the financing attached to such aircraft. At the end of 2006, the Airbus Asset Management portfolio contained 22 aircraft, a net reduction of 8 aircraft compared to the end of 2005. The Asset Management Division also provides a full range of support services, including assistance with entry into service, interior reconfiguration and maintenance checks.

Sales Finance

Airbus favours cash sales, and does not envisage sales financing as an area of business development. However, Airbus recognizes the commercial need for manufacturers to assist customers in arranging financing of new aircraft purchases, and in certain cases to participate in such financing itself. An extension of credit or assumption of exposure is subject to corporate oversight and monitoring, and follows stringent standards of discipline and caution. Airbus’ dedicated Sales Finance team has accumulated decades of expertise in aircraft finance. When Airbus finances a customer, the financed aircraft generally serve as collateral, with the engine manufacturer participating in the financing. These elements assist in reducing the risk borne by Airbus. Airbus’ sales financing transactions are designed to facilitate subsequent sell-down of the exposure to the financial markets, third party lenders or lessors. Airbus’ financing exposure is counter-cyclical and currently Airbus is able to conclude significant sell-down of its exposure. Management believes, in light of its experience, that the level of provisioning protecting Airbus from default costs is adequate and consistent with standards and practice in the aircraft financing industry. See “Part 1/ Sales Financing”.

Customer Service

Airbus works to assist customers in operating their Airbus fleets as efficiently as possible. Whatever an operator’s size, Airbus offers technical help and advice in keeping its aircraft operational. With respect to aircraft operation, the Airbus Customer Services directorate heads an engineering and technical support group, a technical documentation organisation, a network of training centres, spare parts support centres, customer support teams and field services teams that are based at customer airlines. Through this single interface, Airbus aims to satisfy all of its customers’ pre-delivery and in-service support requirements, including (1) engineering and technical support, (2) training and flight operations support and (3) material and logistics support.

Engineering and technical support provides Airbus operators with technical assistance on a 24-hour basis to ensure safe and reliable operations of their Airbus fleet. Customised cost reduction programmes are designed to reduce customers’ maintenance costs to optimised levels.

The training and flight operations support service includes a permanent staff of over 200 instructors around the world to provide accessible and up-to-date training for Airbus flight and ground crews. Airbus has four training centres, one in Toulouse, France, one in Hamburg, Germany, one in Miami, U.S. and one in Beijing, China. A co-operation agreement with Canadian Aviation Electronics Ltd (“CAE”) has enlarged this network by 13 additional training locations worldwide. As part of its training services, Airbus offers Cross Crew Qualification programmes enabling pilots to take advantage of the high degree of commonality between Airbus aircraft families, representing considerable savings to airlines.

Airbus’ spare parts support centres stock over 3,300,000 items out of a range of 250,000 different part numbers, as part of a worldwide distribution network that includes Hamburg, Frankfurt, Washington, D.C., Singapore, Beijing and Shanghai. The 24-hour/365-day order desk is able to dispatch in-stock items within a customized lead-time, down to two hours for grounded aircraft. Airbus’ Modular Spares Services provides customers with a comprehensive range of services to support operation of Airbus aircraft worldwide, which can be tailored to specific requirements of the operators. It contains Spares Planning and Access, Inventory Management, supply chain solutions and material management related consulting.

In 2006, Airbus brought together its full range of services into one comprehensive portfolio named Air+ by Airbus, from which operators can pick and choose as per their individual needs. Airbus recognizes the diversity of airline models and organisations and in response, Air+ by Airbus is designed so that each customer can tailor its Air+ by Airbus solution in accordance with its own outsourcing policy. Air+ by Airbus covers all aspects of an airline’s technical operations when combined with Airbus’ powerful Network of Maintenance and Repair Organisations (“MRO”) partners and suppliers and aims to bring value to customers’ technical operations through increased aircraft availability, reduced operating costs and the enhanced quality of operations.