Airbus A330
Airbus Industrie was formed in response to American domination of commercial aviation aircraft in the 1950s and 1960s. While several European aircraft companies built successful aircraft during this time period—namely British manufacturer deHavilland and French manufacturer Sud-Aviation—their production runs, even with the groundbreaking Comet and Caravelle, were nowhere near the American giants, Boeing, Lockheed and Douglas.
By the late 1960s, even these companies were struggling. Hawker-Siddeley had only mild success with the Trident, while Dassault’s entry, the Mercure, was a disaster; both were crushed by the Boeing 727 and 737. With this in mind, Hawker-Siddeley and Nord of France entered into talks about pooling their resources. At the same time, European airlines were also considering an aircraft that would be better suited for European routes—an “airbus” that would have the wide-body design of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 but the fuel efficiency of a 737. Britain and France were already working on the supersonic Concorde project, so there was precedence.
Airbus Industrie was duly founded in 1970, formed by a consortium of Aerospatiale of France (which had acquired Nord), Deutsche Airbus (a German company specifically formed for the project), Hawker-Siddeley, Fokker-VFW of the Netherlands, and CASA of Spain. The French more or less took the lead for Airbus. The company’s first project was the development of the A300, which first flew in 1972. Orders were slow but steady, but Airbus would not truly be able to consider itself level with the American manufacturers until 1981, when the smaller A320, the world’s first fly-by-wire airliner utilizing microprocessor flight technology.
With the withdrawal of Lockheed from the commercial airliner business in the mid-1980s, McDonnell Douglas concentrating on smaller aircraft about the same time, and the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Airbus was poised to contest with Boeing over the future of commercial aviation. Airbus also pioneered the use of aerial transports to move components (namely fuselage pieces) between its factories in France and Germany, at first using Aero Spacelines Guppies (converted Boeing 377 Stratocruisers), then the purpose-built Airbus Beluga (a radical conversion of the A300 airframe).
Though the A310 and A320 were very successful on a regional basis, Airbus wanted to compete with Boeing’s long-range aircraft, the 747, 757, and 767. This was done with the introduction of the twin-engined A330 in 1994 (billed as a replacement for the A300), and two years earlier, the four-engined A340 (meant to compete with the 747). Once ETOPS was approved by the United States and the European Union in the mid-1990s, allowing two-engined aircraft to fly transatlantic routes, interest waned in the A340 to a certain extent for the A330.
However, Airbus’ primary focus shifted to the A380 by this time. Known initially as the A3XX, the A380 was a double-decked design that would be the largest airliner ever built. Development of such a radical design led to several cost overruns, and there was a real fear that the A380 would never fly. It did in 2005 and entered revenue service two years later. Airbus simultaneously announced the development of the A350, an aircraft meant to replace older A320s and compete directly with Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Airbus was acquired by the British-German consortium EADS in 2006, following several years of negotiations, though it remains its own company under the Airbus name. It also began expanding into military contracts (another area dominated by non-European companies—in this case, Boeing, Lockheed, and Ilyushin) with the marketing of the A330 MRTT tanker and A400M Grizzly tactical transport. At the time of this writing, Airbus is one of the most powerful aviation companies in existence.
Airbus A330
Airbus Industrie was formed in response to American domination of commercial aviation aircraft in the 1950s and 1960s. While several European aircraft companies built successful aircraft during this time period—namely British manufacturer deHavilland and French manufacturer Sud-Aviation—their production runs, even with the groundbreaking Comet and Caravelle, were nowhere near the American giants, Boeing, Lockheed and Douglas.
By the late 1960s, even these companies were struggling. Hawker-Siddeley had only mild success with the Trident, while Dassault’s entry, the Mercure, was a disaster; both were crushed by the Boeing 727 and 737. With this in mind, Hawker-Siddeley and Nord of France entered into talks about pooling their resources. At the same time, European airlines were also considering an aircraft that would be better suited for European routes—an “airbus” that would have the wide-body design of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 but the fuel efficiency of a 737. Britain and France were already working on the supersonic Concorde project, so there was precedence.
Airbus Industrie was duly founded in 1970, formed by a consortium of Aerospatiale of France (which had acquired Nord), Deutsche Airbus (a German company specifically formed for the project), Hawker-Siddeley, Fokker-VFW of the Netherlands, and CASA of Spain. The French more or less took the lead for Airbus. The company’s first project was the development of the A300, which first flew in 1972. Orders were slow but steady, but Airbus would not truly be able to consider itself level with the American manufacturers until 1981, when the smaller A320, the world’s first fly-by-wire airliner utilizing microprocessor flight technology.
With the withdrawal of Lockheed from the commercial airliner business in the mid-1980s, McDonnell Douglas concentrating on smaller aircraft about the same time, and the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Airbus was poised to contest with Boeing over the future of commercial aviation. Airbus also pioneered the use of aerial transports to move components (namely fuselage pieces) between its factories in France and Germany, at first using Aero Spacelines Guppies (converted Boeing 377 Stratocruisers), then the purpose-built Airbus Beluga (a radical conversion of the A300 airframe).
Though the A310 and A320 were very successful on a regional basis, Airbus wanted to compete with Boeing’s long-range aircraft, the 747, 757, and 767. This was done with the introduction of the twin-engined A330 in 1994 (billed as a replacement for the A300), and two years earlier, the four-engined A340 (meant to compete with the 747). Once ETOPS was approved by the United States and the European Union in the mid-1990s, allowing two-engined aircraft to fly transatlantic routes, interest waned in the A340 to a certain extent for the A330.
However, Airbus’ primary focus shifted to the A380 by this time. Known initially as the A3XX, the A380 was a double-decked design that would be the largest airliner ever built. Development of such a radical design led to several cost overruns, and there was a real fear that the A380 would never fly. It did in 2005 and entered revenue service two years later. Airbus simultaneously announced the development of the A350, an aircraft meant to replace older A320s and compete directly with Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Airbus was acquired by the British-German consortium EADS in 2006, following several years of negotiations, though it remains its own company under the Airbus name. It also began expanding into military contracts (another area dominated by non-European companies—in this case, Boeing, Lockheed, and Ilyushin) with the marketing of the A330 MRTT tanker and A400M Grizzly tactical transport. At the time of this writing, Airbus is one of the most powerful aviation companies in existence.