An Airbus A380 'superjumbo' completed a test flight here Friday with US-made engines. The European group's fifth and final A380 test model is the only one to be powered by Engine Alliance, a joint venture between US engineering giant General Electric and Pratt and Whitney.
The other four use engines made by Britain's Rolls Royce, and have already clocked up more than 1,800 hours of flying time in over 575 flights. Airlines buying A380s will be able to choose which engines they want. The world's largest commercial airliner took off under cloudy skies at Airbus headquarters near Toulouse, south-western France, landing an incident-free four hours and 10 minutes later in the rain.
"We are very happy with today's first flight which allows us to confirm that from now on there will be competition when it comes to engines," said Richard Carcaillet, responsible for product marketing at Airbus. Out of 82 firm A380 orders so far, six customers have opted for engines made by Engine Alliance. The first test flights with passengers are scheduled to take place on September 4-7. Almost 2,000 Airbus employees have been chosen from 15,000 volunteers to see how the huge aircraft fares when it comes to comfort.
Airbus announced in mid-June delays to A380 deliveries, prompting a sharp fall in the share price of parent company EADS and leading to top management changes at both companies.