Final paint of the A350 XWB developed by Mapaero, optimizes the weight, fills composite microcracks and reduces the painting lead time.

MAPAERO is a French company created in 1992 (part of MAESTRIA group) and a premium specialist in aeronautical paints.

MAPAERO is a pioneer in the development of water based paint technology used in aeronautics. The research laboratory continues to provide solutions for paints, sealants and other innovative and performant coatings.

Mapaero is renowned for the quality, continuity, simplicity of their paints.

Jean-François Brachotte, president of Mapaero in Pamiers, started very modestly. "Our activity took off through the paint to water", he said. Because water is an advantage; it saves 20% of time and improves the industrial cycle in the final finishing flow of the aircraft.

Mapaero continues its international expansion with the opening of a site in Seattle, close to the headquarters of Boeing.

SQIP Golden Award for Best Improver in 2013. 

MAPAERO was awarded in December by Airbus Procurement with the SQIP Golden Award for Best Improver among their 47 strategic Materials & Parts suppliers.

"Airbus asked all its suppliers to optimize the weight on the A350, and we contribute to our level," assures Jean-François Brachotte, president and founder of the company with 100 employees and 17 million euros of turnover. "A single layer, which contributes to weight reduction", he explained.

The new paint developed for the A350 cockpit is without solvents -therefore more ecological- and it has welcome anti-glare properties in a cockpit. Additionally it is "auto-texturizing"; "Usually to get a grainy look you need to apply a first layer, let dry and later project drops of paint. Now everything is done in one operation, and this saves time in production", says Eric Rumeau, General Manager. Mapaero has signed an exclusive contract with Airbus for this painting.

Beyond the cockpit, the composite structures of the A350 has no issue with corrosion but in case of fire the paint must prevent the spread of fire and reduce the release of toxic fumes. New Mapaero painting also takes into account some microcracks of composite parts; "Our solution is to first apply a first layer acting as developer, which reveals all the cracks”, said Jean-François Brachotte. “Then, we apply a special sealant which fills the cracks and later we apply the final coat". After 8 years of R&D, this paint has been qualified by Airbus to be used in the A350 XWB.

Based on the article “Mapaéro : Brachotte peint le ciel” published in La Depeche

Airbus A350-900 Entry Into Service likely to slip to late-October or early-November from early September.

Aspire Aviation points out that the launch of the 777X appears to have halted much of the sales momentum that the A350-1000 had gathered, though there are marginal incremental orders to be gained, especially if Airbus formally moves the A350-1000 up in entry into service (EIS) of mid-2017 ahead of the A350-800′s in mid-2016.

In 2014, most orders will be for the A350-900, though there are not many major campaigns in progress at the moment for the type beyond Japanese ANA.

Additionally, further conversion action away from the A350-800 is very likely to be observed. Only 61 orders for the type remain, and Hawaiian Airlines and Asiana could very easily move up to the A350-900, as Aeroflot has already converted 10 of its 22 A350 orders to the -900 variant, making a further conversion seems likely and the new American Airlines (AA) converting all its outstanding or 18 -800 orders to the -900 variant.

Pictures available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/aircrafts/

Given the current economic situations in Yemen and Libya, Yemenia and Afriqiyah Airways seem unlikely to follow through on their orders at all.

Regarding entry-into-service (EIS), Airbus continues to aim for an early-September EIS for the A350, although Aspire Aviation believes that the A350′s service entry will likely slip to late October or early November.


Based on the article “Aerospace & Defence in 2014” published in Aspire Aviation.

Is there market for these 5 Airbus models? A350-800, A350-Regional, A350-900, A330, A330neo.

Based on the article published by Leeham, the possibility of Airbus launching an A330 new engine option appears to be gaining ground. Leeham´s Market Intelligence said that Airbus is considering a decision soon, probably next year, with a target entry-into-service date of 2018.

A decision to proceed with an A330neo would come after one to drop the A350-800, according to their information. Airbus has systematically switched -800 customers to the larger, and more profitable A350-900 and A350-1000.

The A350-800 is supposed to enter service in 2016, but it´s built is widely expected to shift to a 2018 EIS so Airbus can free up slots for the A350-1000 and -900.

VW Passat, Skoda Superb, Audi A4 and Seat Exeo.

Same Group (Audi-VW-Skoda-Seat) and different car models for similar market.

GE Aviation is said to be pushing Airbus hard to proceed with the A330neo, using the GEnx-2B engine now on the Boeing 747-8. The -2B is a bleed air engine, which the A330 requires, while the GEnx-1B used on the Boeing 787 is not. The Airbus GEnx could be a combination of the 1B and 2B technology, however. Expanding the 2B engine to the A330 would be one way for GE to recoup its development expenses for the 2B, a problematic situation today with the slow-selling 747-8.

Rolls-Royce is also said to be interested in powering the A330neo with its Trent 1000-TEN used on the 787, but like the GEnx-1B, this engine is not a bleed air design and would have to be modified for the A330. Although the Trent 1000 and 1000 TEN have a solid customer base with the 787, the program delays and constant engineering tweaks boosted research and development costs, prompting Rolls to look at new markets for the engine as a way to recoup the over-inflated investment, we are told.

Airbus wants to keep A330 in production into the next decade, and an A330neo would be the shot in the arm needed to do so. An A330neo—even with the huge investment required—will be a far less expensive airplane to acquire through purchase or lease than the A350-800. An A330-300neo would render the A350-800 superfluous because the A333neo has lower fuel burn per passenger than the A350-800, which at a much more expensive cost to acquire, offers little advantage beyond a significantly longer range



Based on the article “A330neo prospect gains traction” published in Leeham

A350 flies to Latin America as part of flight test campaign

The Airbus A350 XWB MSN3 prototype landed yesterday in Cochabamba - Bolivia during its first visit to Latin America as part of the A350 flight test campaign. The aircraft flight was the longest since the first prototype airborne on 14/June/2014, leaving Toulouse in the morning and flying through Spain, Morocco and later through Brazil as it can seen in the map below.

A350 MSN3, one of the five development aircraft, arrived in Latin America on 7/January to perform high altitude flight tests at Cochabamba, Bolivia, where the airfield is located at 8,360ft (2,550 m) above sea level. It will fly also from Cochabamba to La Paz, Bolivia, at more than 13,325ft (3,960 m), for further flight tests. 

Operations from high-altitude airports like La Paz are challenging because of the low air density. La Paz is one of the highest points on Earth served by a commercial aircraft, and it has a 13,125ft long runway.

High altitude testing is a critical part of the overall flight-test program which will ensure that Airbus deliver on their performance guarantees to customers.

It is planned that the MSN3 will spend at Bolivia around a week to carry out engine behavior tests at high altitude airfields. Within the prototype, in some rows of passenger seat fitted in the aft section of the fuselage, a small engineer-team has join flight test pilots onboard to support all activities scheduled. 

Natural Ice campaign will also test another crítical behaviour of the A350 XWB

Natural Icing trials main objectives are to assess wing anti-ice behaviour and to check aircraft behaviour with natural ice (mainly in the empennage).

There are planned around 5 flights and other complementary tests with wing anti-ice inactive. And Airbus will compare the natural ice accreted with artificial ice shapes that were tested in December, in order to confirm that are far less critical.

With the complementary tests to be done with wing anti-ice inactive, the objective is to compare the Handling Qualities issues, if appear.

But when the flight crew looks for natural ice conditions, they would find thunderstorms. Side results in the Natural Ice tests of A380 done in May/2006 were that more than 100 lightning strikes were assessed in one flight, with no issues declared. So a real lightning strike test with the MSN1 is expected during Natural Ice Test campaign.

MSN2 and MSN4 will join the A350 flight-test program in February

If 2013 was the year of 2 very important first flights, 2014 will have to be an important year of execution: Airbus has committed to delivering the first A350-900, Boeing will hand over the first stretched 787-9, and the first Bombardier CS100 is still officially due for entry into service.

Airbus is facing a crucial 12 months as it enters the second half of the A350-900 flight-test program. Two aircraft, MSN1 and MSN3, are currently performing the tests, which Airbus says have been mostly successful so far. Following an initial phase of handling tests, Airbus has continuously moved into the part of the campaign that is addressing a long list of items required for certification.

Three more aircraft are to join the flight-test program—MSN2, MSN4 and MSN5—the first two in February and the last in May. Airbus expects the aircraft to receive its type certificate at the end of August or in early September, a little more than 14 months after first flight.

Qatar Airways will then take delivery of the first aircraft in the fourth quarter.


Based on the article “Certification Nears For Three Airframers’ Programs” published in Aviation Week

No orders for A350-800 since 4 years and indications that the A330 boom may not continue.

Airbus is proud that its A330 has been selling so well in recent years, and in fact has outsold the 787 since its launch. But in spite of the launch of the 242-ton version that increased its range, and a regional variant optimized for shorter-haul efficiency, there are indications that the A330 boom may not continue. From January to November 2013, Airbus sold just 48 of the type, compared to the 164 Boeing garnered for the 787.

If that trend continues, Airbus may not only face serious questions about the future of the A350-800, but may also have to take a close look at what it could do to refresh the A330 further. Some of its customers, most notably Air Asia X, have been asking for a re-engined version (A330neo). Since the market success of the A320neo, the concept has gained traction to the extent that Emirates now wants the A380 to be re-engined; so it is clearly an option for the A330, although Airbus has been trying to play down that idea so far.

Based on the article “Certification Nears For Three Airframers’ Programs” published in Aviation Week