A summary of owners of delivered A380s from that list is:
Airbus: 5 (this does not include the static test frame)
Emirates: 3
Qantas: 5
Singapore: 9
It struck me odd that Airbus owns so many of the completed A380s, and they have another one scheduled (frame 37).
Now I understand that the first 2 were probably the test planes, and could see how they might need 3 test planes. However, what is the function of the 4th, 5th, and planned 6th A380?
Is not this an unusual number of completed planes to be owned by the Mfr for a commercial airliner?
FlySSC From France, joined Aug 2003, 7313 posts, RR: 61 Reply 1, posted (3 years 10 months 14 hours ago) and read 11610 times:
I guess only msn 01 (F-WWOW), msn 02 (F-WXXL) and msn 04 (F-WWDD) are used by Airbus as test aircraft.
msn 02 & msn 04 will be upgraded and delivered to Etihad.
msn 03, msn 05 & msn 06 have all been delivered to SQ.
Airbus did the same with the A320, with some test aircraft later delivered to Airlines : msn 02 (became F-GFKQ for AF) and msn 03 (became F-GGEG for Air Inter).
N14AZ From Germany, joined Feb 2007, 2313 posts, RR: 25 Reply 2, posted (3 years 10 months 13 hours ago) and read 11544 times:
Airbus tried to sell all testplanes except for MSN 001. There was a thread about this two or three years ago called something like "Airbus is cleaning up their backyard". It was anounced during a Dubai Air Show, that EK will buy a part of the testbirds.
MSN 002 has been sold to Prince Al-Walid and will become the Flying Palace, the only VIP A380 so far.
MSN 007 has already been converted from a testplane to a production-standard-plane and is currently in XFW. It will be delivered to EK at the end of this year.
2175301 From United States of America, joined May 2007, 982 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (3 years 10 months 12 hours ago) and read 11219 times:
Quoting N14AZ (Reply 2): Something is wrong with your number of deliveries. So far 17 A380s have been delivered to the airlines:
1.) SQ: 9
2.) EK: 5
3.) QF: 3
My mistake: I wrote the numbers down correctly when I was adding up the list; and then transposed them when typing the thread.
Otherwise thanks for the information on how most of the "Airbus" planes have been sold and will enter service.
However, why did Airbus even "own" frames 7 & 9? What was their purpose/use?
Frames 1 & 2 are obvious. I figured frame 4 as either more testing or marketing (all of those flights to many airports to show off and to demonstrate that it could potentially service those airports). Why did they need 2 more?
Stitch From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 26694 posts, RR: 83 Reply 4, posted (3 years 10 months 10 hours ago) and read 10926 times:
Etihad was contracted to take four of the test frames, however they renegotiated with Airbus to defer delivery in favor of new frames and increased their order to ten.
Of those four Etihad planes, MSN002 was sold as an A380CJ, MSN004 became an Airbus plane and MSN007 and MSN009 were re-sold to Emirates, last I heard.
LH4116 From Sweden, joined Aug 2007, 1672 posts, RR: 15 Reply 6, posted (3 years 10 months 8 hours ago) and read 10276 times:
Quoting N14AZ (Reply 2): The fate of MSN 004 is not known.
IIRC wouldn't also msn 004 be re-engined and converted to a production standard plane, just like 007, and I also read somewhere that it would be sold to EK. Or am I wrong?
I won't stop complaining until SAS reintroduces free service in Economy Class!
AndyGarrett From United States of America, joined Jun 2009, 44 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (3 years 10 months 6 hours ago) and read 8944 times:
How is the A-380 doing financially for Airbus in these economic conditions? Looking forward 2 to 4 years, there doesn't seem to be a lot of optimism from learned economists and bankers.
WingedMigrator From United States of America, joined Oct 2005, 2025 posts, RR: 56 Reply 9, posted (3 years 10 months 5 hours ago) and read 8560 times:
Quoting 2175301 (Reply 3): However, why did Airbus even "own" frames 7 & 9? What was their purpose/use?
MSN009 was the Engine Alliance test airframe, the only Airbus frame fitted with GP7200 engines. MSN007 was a cabin test airframe and was initially slated for extensive route-proving flights. That role fell to MSN002 when the production problems delayed completion of 007.
LH4116 From Sweden, joined Aug 2007, 1672 posts, RR: 15 Reply 15, posted (3 years 9 months 4 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 2800 times:
If msn 004 and 007 have been reengined from RR to EA, what will happen to their "old" RR engines? Will they be used on other production airframes, or will they be scrapped/ used as spares? Seems like a waste to me...
I won't stop complaining until SAS reintroduces free service in Economy Class!
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