Last week the company launched a hearts and minds campaign, with the A380 taking off from its home base in Toulouse for a two-hour trip with a group of international journalists. But meanwhile EADS is putting the finishing touches to a restructuring plan that is expected to result in significant job losses, and there is talk of airlines demanding compensation for late delivery of planes they have ordered.
Underlining the strategic importance of Airbus to the UK, French and German governments, the UK announced it is investing in a £17.4 million project, putting £8.7 million towards an Airbus-led consortium to develop computer-based simulation software with the aim of improving the design process for future aircraft.
The project, which will also boost the UK’s car and marine industries, comes on top of a £34 million Department of Trade and Industry-backed wing technology project recently launched at the Airbus factory in Broughton in North Wales.
The project, called the CFMS Core Programme, will cut the time between concept stage and a marketable product, speeding up testing by using computer-based simulation.
By 2012 computer-based simulations will replace physical testing, meaning parts of the aircraft design process could be reduced to 36 days, instead of 350. The technology will also be used in the marine and automotive industries.
The government says the programme will bring together research teams and projects that have wide application across many sectors of the UK's industrial base medical research, vehicle design and motorsport, energy and environment services the food and other process industries.
The consortium is led by Airbus and includes the Aircraft Research Association, BAE Systems, BMT Fluid Mechanics Limited, Eurostep, Frazer-Nash Consultancy, Hewlett-Packard, IT Innovation, MBDA, Microsoft, PCA Engineers, Quadrics, QinetiQ, Rolls-Royce, AgustaWestland, Williams F1 and the University of Southampton, as well as a number of other academic organisations.
The CFMS Core Programme, part of the UK’s National Aerospace Technology Strategy is the third major aerospace programme launched recently for developing new technology for the aerospace sector.
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