Airbus A340-600 maintenance

The latest version of the long range A340-600. The new aircraft brings extended range, greater passenger capacity and overall substantially enhanced productivity for airlines.

Major benefits are evident in A340-600 maintenance schedules and costs. This concludes a successful four month test campaign following the aircraft"s first flight in November 2005.

Qatar Airways is the first customer to take delivery of this new higher gross weight A340-600 with first deliveries due to begin in summer 2006, followed by deliveries to Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic and Etihad Airways.

Benefiting from A380 technology, reduced maintenance costs, and the latest development of Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines, the new 380 tonne A340-600, with typical seating of 380 passengers in three-class comfort, provides up to 18 per cent higher compared to earlier variants and travels 250nm (463km) further, up to 7,900nm (14,600km).

This new A340-600 will allow our customers to fly further while maintaining the highest degree of passenger comfort and improved operating costs," Humbert continued.

The new variants of the A340 Family benefit from the existing well-known superior comfort standards of the A340 with attributes such as a wide, quiet cabin with superior air quality that allows airlines to offer a distinctive product for each of their market requirements.

The Airbus A340-600 is the largest of the Airbus jetliners and is a super-stretched version of the A340 family of aircraft. One of the largest commercial aircraft in the world, the A340-600 provides a passenger capacity of 380 and a range of 13,900km.

The aircraft entered service with Virgin Atlantic Airways (launch customer with 20 aircraft on order) in August 2002 when it took its first commercial flight from London Heathrow to JFK New York.

Other customers included: Air Canada (3), Cathay Pacific (3), China Eastern (3), Emirates (18), Etihad Airways of UAE (4), Iberia (11), International Lease Finance (14), Lufthansa (17), Qatar Airways (4), South African Airways (6) and Thai Airways (6).

In December 2006, Airbus delivered the first VIP version of the A340-600 to SAAD Air of Saudi Arabia. The VIP version seats about 80 passengers.

The ultra long-range A340-500, which made its first flight in February 2002, is 6.5m shorter and is capable of carrying 313 passengers with a range of 15,750km. The aircraft received European certification in December 2002 and entered service with launch customer Emirates in November 2003.

Emirates has ordered ten aircraft. It has also been ordered by Air Canada (two), Etihad Airways (four), Qatar Airways (one), Singapore Airlines (five) and Thai Airways (four). In February 2004, a Singapore Airlines A340-500 made the longest non-stop commercial flight in aviation history – flying 14,093km (7,609nm) from Singapore to Los Angeles in 14 hours 42 minutes.

A total of 145 orders have been received for the long-range A340-500/600 family – 114 for the A340-600 and 31 for the A340-500.

A new variant of the A340-600 made a maiden flight in November 2005. It is equipped with upgraded Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines and uses construction techniques developed for the A380, such as laser beam welding. Its range is extended to 14,600km. The upgraded aircraft was certified by EASA (European Aviation and Safety Agency) in April 2006 and delivered to launch customer. Qatar Airways shortly after. Certification of the new variant of the A340-500 is due to take place in early 2007.

FLIGHT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

The flight deck on the A340-600 is almost identical to that of the basic A340 and there is very little difference between the operating procedures of the two aircraft. As a consequence any pilot qualified to fly the A340 will need only one or two days briefing to be flight rated for the A340-600.

The Airbus Cross Crew Qualification (CCQ) program, enabling pilots to transit from one Airbus fly-by-wire family to another through difference training, reduces training time by 65% to 95% and significantly lowers training costs.

The multi-purpose control and display unit of the new flight management system developed by Thales and Smiths Industries has six 6.25in x 6.25in liquid crystal displays.

"A typical three-class layout in the A340-600 seats 380 passengers."The fly-by-wire controls of the A340-600 result in reduced turbulence and improved flying comfort.

A high degree of redundancy and integrity is incorporated into the electronic flight control system, which includes five main computers and segregated power supplies and signalling lines. A Rockwell Collins Integrated Information System provides high-speed data communication links.

A two bunk rest area for the crew can be provided just aft of the flight deck. The rest area has a wardrobe, folding meal table communication and entertainment equipment. The upper bunk can be lowered to allow landing and take-off seats for two crew.

Thales Avionics has developed a digital head-up display which is planned for certification on the A340 in 2006. The Head-up Displays HUDs have a 35° x 26° field of view and use liquid crystal displays.

FUSELAGE

The A340-600 has 20 more frames (structural members) than the A340-300 making it 10.6m longer. Advanced composites have been used for the empennage (complete tail unit) structure, all empennage and wing trailing edges, all fairings and floor panels. Superplastic foaming and diffusion bonding have been used on the inspection hatches, the tailcone cap, the slat mechanism cams and parts of the aircraft canopy.

A typical three-class layout in the A340-600 accommodates 380 passengers with 12 first-class, 54 business-class and 314 economy-class seats. A two-class layout provides 419 seats. The cabin can be reconfigured very quickly for changes in fleet deployment.

There are six temperature sensor location zones along the cabin to provide comfortable conditions for the passengers. The modular in-flight entertainment system provides the passenger with a single interface unit for telephone and fax, for credit card facilities and for interactive video and games.

The new wing design, with wing area 439.4m², accommodates larger fuel tanks and provides increased lift. The wing is 20% larger in wing area than that of the A340-300. The enlarged wing allows the aircraft to cruise economically at speeds in excess of Mach 0.83.

CARGO HOLD

The cargo hold accepts the full range of existing underfloor cargo containers and pallets. The aircraft has 106in cargo doors fitted as standard. The aircraft has a bulk hold volume of 19.7m³ and can carry up to 42 LD3 containers.

LOWER DECK OPTIONS

The lower decks can be allocated to provide additional crew or passenger facilities, such as crew rest areas, bunks and sleeper cabins.

ENGINES

"The flight decks on the A340-600 jetliners are almost identical to that of the basic A340."The four-engine configuration means that the aircraft is free from the constraints of ETOPS, the rules that govern the operation of twin-engine aircraft on very long flights. Long-Range Operations (LROPS) rules, that will replace ETOPS, allow the A340-600 aircraft to overfly extreme regions such as the poles or the Himalayas. In an exceptional event of an engine failure, the aircraft can continue to fly safely over these extreme regions to the final destination without diversion.

The Rolls-Royce Trent 556 engines, yielding 53,000lb to 56,000lb thrust, give fuel efficiency with low emissions. Advantages of quad-engine performance include reduction in maintenance costs by about 15% because four small engines are cheaper to maintain than two large engines, less thrust requirement for take-off, improved performance from hot and high airports and no second segment climb limitation.

Aircraft maintenance by SAA Technical SAT

The South Africans have a partner company which is responsible for its aircraft maintenance. “SAA Technical (SAT) is the biggest and most experienced provider of aircraft maintenance repair and overhaul work in the entire African continent,” said CEO Rob Bulder at a presentation. “The company employs a workforce of 3,200, 66 percent of whom are aero engineers.

As well as South African Airways, its customers include numerous local and international airlines. Minor work is carried out for around 40 airlines which fly to South Africa. Altogether, SAT’s global clientele numbers about 70 customers.” 

SAT’s main base is at Johannesburg airport, but it also has outposts in Cape Town, Durban and a few smaller centres. Since 2000 SAT has been operating as an independent, autonomous arm of South African Airways, with its own separate management. As Bulder explains, “SAT has a total hangar capacity of 85,000m2 of floor space.

This includes a new 36,000m2 hangar at Johannesburg airport. This is the biggest hangar in the entire African continent. Up to six Boeing 747’s can be simultaneously maintained there. Moreover, in March 2004 a multi-purpose dock in which work can be performed  A340-200 maintenance, A340-300 maintenance, A340-600 maintenance A330 maintenance and on the Boeing 747 and MD-11 entered into service. This dock cost about $10 million. It means that the amount of time an aircraft has to be idle for aircraft maintenance work to be carried out can be reduced.”

SAT performs all the major maintenance work for the entire SAA fleet. However, its customers also include a number of European and African airlines plus others from Middle Eastern countries.

Thus, for example, Boeing 747 D checks have been carried out for Lufthansa, Saudi Arabian Airlines and the Saudi Arabian Kingdom holding company. Customers for Boeing 737 C and D checks include Air Tanzania, Air Kenya Ltd., TAAG, Air Seychelles, Comair and Air France.