27 April 2005 – The first A380 to take to the air landed at Blagnac international airport in Toulouse, France at 14.23 local time (12.23h UTC) after successfully completing its first flight that lasted three hours and 54 minutes. Carrying the registration F-WWOW, the aircraft is powered by four Rolls Royce Tent 900 engines. For its first flight, the A380 took off at a weight of 421 tonnes / 928.300 lbs, the highest ever of any civil airliner to date. During the flight, which took the aircraft around South West France, the six crew members explored the aircraft’s flight envelope as expected. They tested the A380’s handling using both direct and normal flight control laws with the landing gear up and down, and with all flaps’ and slats’ settings during the part of the flight at cruise altitude. They made an initial evaluation of the comfort levels in both the main and upper decks, confirming that the cabin was very quiet and the ride smooth.

Failing national airlines should not be exempt from the European Union’s market- driven competition rules, a senior EU civil servant said. Philip Lowe, Director General for Competition at the European Commission, attacked lame-duck companies; “they are simply a drain on society and ones who demand state bail-outs”, he said and defended his unit’s refusal to bend European Union rules to permit “national champions” emerging. Lowe reserved special ire for stuttering flag carriers - despite transport falling outside his control - who continue to do a bad job of controlling costs.

Does airline service of alcoholic beverages fall under the same statutes as “land-side” bars and restaurants? This is the question now being determined by an a Georgia Supreme Court. The case before Georgia’s highest court stems from a traffic accident involving a man who allegedly became intoxicated while on a Delta flight from Milwaukee to Atlanta. The passenger had between six to eight glasses of wine on the flight and then drove his car into a car driven by an Atlanta resident who suffered permanent and serious disabling injuries. The plaintiffs attorney claims that the airline knew the passenger was intoxicated and continued serving him while enroute to Atlanta. The Fulton County Court already had thrown the case out of court since it claimed the passenger was not served drinks while the airplane was in Georgia air-space but the state appeals court has allowed an appeal to the State Superior Court.

JetBlue Airways, AirTran Airways, and Southwest Airlines topped an annual airline quality survey although overall industry service declined in 2004. Five of the top six performing airlines were low-fare carriers, according to researchers from the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s aviation institute and Wichita State University. Bankrupt United Airlines was the only network carrier to rank in the top five. Researchers analyzed year-end Transportation Department data that was released publicly in February. Categories include on-time arrivals, denied boardings, lost luggage, and consumer complaints. According to the analysis, 10 of 14 airlines showed an overall decline in service from the previous year. JetBlue, which was also No. 1 in 2003, had few if any denied boardings and was second to Southwest in fewest consumer complaints. AirTran had the lowest rate of mishandled baggage, the survey showed. For the industry, on-time performance was off nearly 2 points in 2004 to 78.3 percent compared to the previous year. Denied boardings, mishandled bag rates and consumer complaints were all up.

Despite talk of new US low-fare startup service on the Atlantic, those new services, at least as of now, will be offered by European carriers. Using 282-seat A330s, the Italian airline Eurofly will offer threeweekly flights to Naples, three to Bologna, and one to Palermo from New York JFK this summer. Also from JFK, the German carrier LTU will fly A330s to Dusseldorf six times a week. Janice Holden, Director of Marketing and Business Development for JFK’s Terminal 4, which will be home to Eurofly and LTU, says it is seeing interest from companies seeking to provide new high-end services across the Atlantic. They would be similar to the 48-seat all business-class flights offered by Lufthansa on three USAGermany routes operated for it by PrivatAir. Low-fares Eurofly expects to begin such a service between New York and Milan in the fourth quarter of this year using a 48-seat Airbus A319, according to Holden. The new companies want to provide more exclusivity on high-volume, point-topoint markets like New York-London on business class-equipped Boeing 737s or A319s. Service would include limousines to the airport and expedited check-in and services. “Terminals have to figure out ways to accommodate this demand”; Holden says.

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