page_title: Airbus A380
section_title: Testing
hierarchical_section_title: Airbus A380 / Development / Testing
caption_attribution_description: English: Flight test engineer's station on the lower deck of Airbus A380 test aircraft F-WWOW (serial 001). The screen on the upper left enables the test engineer to maintain an overview of activity in the cockpit. Taken during a tour at the 2006 Farnborough International Airshow.
context_page_description: The Airbus A380 is a wide-body aircraft manufactured by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner.
  Airbus studies started in 1988 and the project was announced in 1990 to challenge the dominance of the Boeing 747 in the long haul market.
  The then-designated A3XX project was presented in 1994; Airbus launched the €9.5 billion A380 programme on 19 December 2000.
  The first prototype was unveiled in Toulouse on 18 January 2005,
  with its first flight on 27 April 2005.
  Difficulties in electrical wiring caused a two-year delay and the development cost ballooned to €18 billion.
  It obtained its type certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency and the US Federal Aviation Administration on 12 December 2006.
  It was first delivered to Singapore Airlines on 15 October 2007 and entered service on 25 October.
  Production peaked at 30 per year in 2012 and 2014. However, Airbus concedes that its $25 billion investment for the aircraft cannot be recouped.
  On 14 February 2019, after Emirates reduced its last orders in favour of the A350 and the A330neo, Airbus announced that A380 production would end by 2021.
context_section_description: Five A380s were built for testing and demonstration purposes. The first A380, registered F-WWOW, was unveiled in Toulouse 18 January 2005. It first flew on 27 April 2005. This plane, equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, flew from Toulouse–Blagnac Airport with a crew of six headed by chief test pilot Jacques Rosay. Rosay said flying the A380 had been "like handling a bicycle".
  On 1 December 2005, the A380 achieved its maximum design speed of Mach 0.96, (its design cruise speed is Mach 0.85) in a shallow dive. In 2006, the A380 flew its first high-altitude test at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. It conducted its second high-altitude test at the same airport in 2009. On 10 January 2006, it flew to José María Córdova International Airport in Colombia, accomplishing the transatlantic testing, and then it went to El Dorado International Airport to test the engine operation in high-altitude airports. It arrived in North America on 6 February 2006, landing in Iqaluit, Nunavut in Canada for cold-weather testing.
  On 14 February 2006, during the destructive wing strength certification test on MSN5000, the test wing of the A380 failed at 145% of the limit load, short of the required 150% level. Airbus announced modifications adding 30 kg (66 lb) to the wing to provide the required strength. On 26 March 2006, the A380 underwent evacuation certification in Hamburg. With 8 of the 16 exits randomly blocked, 853 mixed passengers and 20 crew exited the darkened aircraft in 78 seconds, less than the 90 seconds required for certification. Three days later, the A380 received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to carry up to 853 passengers.
  The first A380 using GP7200 engines—serial number MSN009 and registration F-WWEA—flew on 25 August 2006. On 4 September 2006, the first full passenger-carrying flight test took place. The aircraft flew from Toulouse with 474 Airbus employees on board, in a test of passenger facilities and comfort. In November 2006, a further series of route-proving flights demonstrated the aircraft's performance for 150 flight hours under typical airline operating conditions. As of 2014, the A380 test aircraft continue to perform test procedures.
  Airbus obtained type certificates for the A380-841 and A380-842 model from the EASA and FAA on 12 December 2006 in a joint ceremony at the company's French headquarters, receiving the ICAO code A388. The A380-861 model was added to the type certificate on 14 December 2007.
caption: Flight test engineer's station on the lower deck of A380 F-WWOW
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