© AIRBUS S.A.S 2009. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document. This document and all information contained he rein is the sole property of AIRBUS S.A.S. No intellectual property rights are granted by the delivery of this document or the disclosure of its content. This document shall not be reproduced or disclosed to a third p arty without the express written consent of AIRBUS S.A.S. This document and its content shall not be used for any purpose other than that for which it is supplied.

A N EADS COMPANY A IRBUS S.A. S SOCIÉTÉ PAR ACTIONS SIMPLIFIÉE

A U CAPITAL DE 2.704.375 EUROS

383 474 814 R.C.S. TOULOUSE SIÈGE SOCIAL :

1, ROND-POINT MAURICE BELLONTE
31707 BLAGNAC CEDEX, FRANCE PHONE +33 (0)5 61 93 33 33 FROM Yves REGIS - EA

DATE 28 July 2010

PHONE 33561933028

FAX 33561934271

E-MAIL Yves.regis@airbus.com

OUR REFERENCE F28M10021337

YOUR REFERENCE Docket Management Facility US department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE West Building Ground Floor

Room W12-140
WASHINGTON DC 20590
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Subject : Airbus A340 - Petition for temporary exemption to § FAR 26.33, title 14 Code of Federal Regulations

Dear Madam / Sir,

Airbus is hereby petitioning for a temporary exem ption to some requirements of section 14 CFR 26.33 – Holders of type certificates: Fuel tank flammability – for the A340 aircraft models. In order to ease the review of this exemption request, it has been formatted as per the guidelines of § FAR

11.81.

(a) Name, mailing address and other contact information

Yves REGIS Head of Product Integrity
Airbus SAS

B35-0A7 1 rond-point Maurice Bellonte 31707 Blagnac Cedex

France

(b) The specific section or sections of 14 CFR from which exemption is sought

A temporary exemption is sought from the requirements of paragraphs (d), (e), (f) and (h) of section 14 CFR 26.33.

(c) The extent of the sought relief and the reason for seeking this relief

Airbus plans to be ready to release the Service In structions (or Service Bulletins – SB) required by FAR 26.33(d) for the A340 aircraft models (A340-211, -212, -213, -311, -312, -313, -541, -542, -642, -643) from December 31, 2011 (instead of December 27, 2010 as required by the FAA). Consistently with the requirement of FAR 26.33(h)(3) Airbus plans to have a draft of the SB available three months earlier, i.e. a the end of October 2011. There will be one SB for the A340-200/300© AIRBUS S.A.S 2009. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document. This document and all information contained he rein is the sole property of AIRBUS S.A.S. No intellectual property rights are granted by the delivery of this document or the disclosure of its content. This document shall not be reproduced or disclosed to a third p arty without the express written consent of AIRBUS S.A.S. This document and its content shall not be used for any purpose other than that for which it is supplied.

FROM Yves REGIS DATE 28 July 2010 REFERENCE F28M10021337 PAGE 2 models and one SB for the A340-500/600 models sinc e the Flammability Reduction System designs are slightly different for these two families.

In addition, for the A340-541, -542, -642 and -643 aircraft models, Airbus plans to publish the Airworthiness Limitation Section (ALS) of the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA) required by FAR 26.33 (e) & (f) in the second half of 2011, no later than December 31, 2011. The exactdate will depend on the date of approval of the aircraft modification installing the fuel tank flammability reduction system on this aircraft model (currently scheduled to take place in the second half of 2011).

T hese delays in compliance are sought since:

• there are currently no A340 aircraft operated under FAR 121/125/129

a nd,

• only second-hand aircraft could enter FAR 121/125/129 operations before the end ofDecember 2011. To the best Airbus current knowledge of second-hand aircraft availability, only a very limited number of units could therefore be added to the US registry before this date.

The delays in compliance are therefore sought in order to optimize the resources allocation andgive the priority to the progress of the compliance work for the overall Fuel Tank Flammability Reduction Rule (i.e. including the support to the operators affected by the operational FAR requirements) for the A320 family and the A330-200 model. Airbus has a significant number of these aircraft under FAR 121/125/129 operations and a few airlines have already placed orders for FRS retrofit (A320 family).

(d) The reasons why granting the request would be in the public interest; that is how it would benefit the public as a whole

A s indicated above, granting the request will improve:

• the Airbus capability to meet the FAR 26.33 2010 compliance deadlines for the models for which Airbus has a significant number of aircraft operated under FAR 121/125/129

• the Airbus capability, throughout 2011, to provide the necessary support to the US operators of these aircraft models in preparing, scheduling and finally meeting the FAR 121/125/129 retrofit requirements hence benefiting the US public as a whole.

(e) The reasons why granting the exemption would not adversely affect safety

Granting this exemption would not adversely affect safety since it will not impair the Airbus and potential future A340 operators capability to meet the FAR 121/125/129 retrofit dates. No A340aircraft models are currently operated under FAR 121/125/129 and, to the current Airbus knowledge, only a very limited number of second-hand aircraft could be added to the US registry in the near future. On this basis Airbus considers that delaying the publication of Service Instructions for the A340 aircraft will not impair the capability of the potentially concerned operators to meet the
FAR 121/125/129 retrofit dates.© AIRBUS S.A.S 2009. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document. This document and all information contained he rein is the sole property of AIRBUS S.A.S. No intellectual property rights are granted by the delivery of this document or the disclosure of its content. This document shall not be reproduced or disclosed to a third p arty without the express written consent of AIRBUS S.A.S. This document and its content shall not be used for any purpose other than that for which it is supplied.

FROM Yves REGIS DATE 28 July 2010 REFERENCE F28M10021337 PAGE 3 (f) A summary that the FAA can publish in the Federal Register

Airbus seeks a temporary exemption from § FAR 26.33 (d), (e), (f) and (h), title 14 Code of Federal Regulation, for its A340 aircraft models. More precisely, Airbus seeks an exemption from the requirement to meet the December 27, 2010 deadline for releasing the required compliance items. Instead, these items will be ready for release to any concerned operator at the latest at the end of December 2011. Airbus considers that this request is in the public interest since it will contribute to ensure full and timely compliance to FAR 26, FAR 121, FAR 125 and FAR 129 Fuel Tank Flammability Reduction requirements for the Airbus models that have a significant number of aircraft operated under FAR
121/125/129. Airbus considers that granting this request will not adversely affect safety since no A340 aircraft models are currently operated under FAR 121/125/129 and, to the current Airbus knowledge, only a very limited number of second-hand aircraft could be added to the US registry before end of 2011. On this basis, delaying by one year the ava ilability of the Service Instructions will not impair the capability of the potential future A340 operators to meet the FAR121/125/129 retrofit dates.

(g) Any additional information, views or arguments available to support the exemption request

None

(h) The reason to exercise the privileges of the requested exemption outside the United States
if needed

To the best of Airbus knowledge, no N registered airplanes affected by this rule are operated outside the United States. There is therefore no need to exercise the privileges of the requested exemption outside the United States.

Yours faithfully,

Yves REGIS Head of Product Integrity