An Airbus A380 landed in Japan yesterday, as part of a final series of test flights intended to lead to the superjumbo's air-worthiness certification by the end of the year.
The plane, which is on an Asian tour and flew from Hong Kong, arrived safely in Narita International Airport near Tokyo, airport spokesman Masaharu Watanabe said.
The final four flights in the test schedule, ending Nov. 30, are designed to put the 555-seater A380 through 150 hours of flights under the kind of operating conditions it will experience with airlines. Yesterday's arrival is part of the second of the four trips.
PHOTO: AFP
During its Narita stopover, aviation officials will make sure the huge aircraft can fit the facility and equipment at the airport, while going through a series of routine work such as maintenance, fueling and attaching a boarding bridge, Watanabe said.
"It's the first time for Narita to accommodate such a big plane," Watanabe said. "We have to make sure if the plane fits the facility."
The airport's observation balcony was crowded with many Japanese aviation enthusiasts who were taking pictures of the A380, he said.
"I'm hoping to go down to the spot later and take a look," he said.
The superjumbo will return to France on Monday, before taking off again for Chinese airports in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong next week, Airbus said in a statement. It will then fly to South Africa, Australia and Canada in the coming weeks.
The company has said the A380 is on track for certification by the middle of next month.
Airbus has received orders for 166 superjumbo jets. Singapore Airlines will be the first carrier to fly the superjumbo after it receives its first plane next October.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
RSS