Airbus A380 and Thales partnership success

Thales expertise helps A380 become aviation success

The double-deck Airbus A380 is the world’s largest commercial aircraft flying today and has quickly become an iconic symbol in aviation – and Thales is a key partner in this hugely successful programme.

With its distinctive lines and design, the A380 will undoubtedly be a firm favourite with visitors at Farnborough.

Overall, the A380’s two decks offer 50 per cent more floor surface than any other high-capacity aircraft.

Thales is a long-standing Airbus partner, and the main supplier of the A380’s cockpit display systems – its technology can be found throughout the aircraft’s avionics system, covering navigation, flight controls, electrical power systems and utilities such as braking systems and door management systems.

Thales provides what was the world’s first Onboard Airport Navigation System (OANS) within the A380 cockpit, providing crewmembers with improved situational awareness on airport surface manoeuvres. OANS allows the flight crew to more efficiently navigate at airports, which have become increasingly congested.

The A380’s passenger doors are for the first time ever electronically controlled instead of mechanically operated. Within the cabin, the company provides state-of-the-art lighting systems and Inflight Entertainment systems.

Air France is equipping all of its A380 fleet with the advanced Thales TopSeries Inflight Entertainment (IFE) system. This system provides high-speed delivery of onboard services with large, widescreen displays at every seat.

Air France A380 passengers can access a broad range of entertainment that includes approximately 100 on-demand movies, 300 audio CDs, 26 games, live camera, flight information map, in-seat chat and a customised menu option for children.

Thales systems comprise a significant percentage of the electronics onboard the A380 and as such the company played a significant role in bringing the aircraft to market.

An average of 350 Thales employees per year worked on developing systems onboard the A380 over a period of five years.