April 2015

MULTIMODAL TRANSPORT FOR A380 COMPONENTS

To transport the major components of the A380 from the European sites where they are
manufactured to the aircraft final assembly line in Blagnac (France), Airbus could not choose
the air transport system used for all its other programmes (a fleet of five Beluga aircraft
makes more than sixty flights per week between the various aircraft manufacturer's sites to
transport the parts of all the aircraft of the Airbus family: from the A318 to the A350).
Although certain components of the forward fuselage and vertical tailplane of the A380 are
transported to Blagnac on the Beluga aircraft, the exceptional dimensions of the other
components make their transport by air impossible and Airbus has developed an innovative
multimodal transport solution.
These components are transported from the various sites in Europe to the final assembly line
by ships, barges and trucks.
2000 km by sea
During the first phase, three Ro-Ro (roll on-roll off) ships chartered from the Louis Dreyfus
Armateurs and Hoegh Autoliners joint venture are used. These two ship owners are
specialised in maritime transport. Fret Cetam is then in charge to organise the aircraft
components transport for Airbus throughout Europe.
The first ship to enter into service was the "Ville de Bordeaux", measuring 155 metres long
and 24 metres wide. It was joined in 2008 by the "City of Hamburg", then the "Ciudad de
Cadiz" in 2009. These two ships are smaller and measure 127 metres long and 25 metres
wide. Since April 2012, a fourth ship, the Bore Sea has been chartered by Airbus
following the increase in the rates of the A380 programme. This ship is also used for the
transport of components for other Airbus programmes.
All have been specifically sized to transport all or part of the A380 components.
Each Ro-Ro ships follows a specific route sailing to the ports serving the Airbus plants
located in Broughton (United Kingdom), Hamburg (Germany), Puerto Real (Spain) and SaintNazaire (France).
The Ciudad de Cadiz goes to Mostyn in Wales to take onboard the wingset which has been
previously shipped 35 km down the river Dee onboard the "Afon Dyfrdwy", a barge chartered
from Holyhead Towing. The Ro-Ro ship then sails to Pauillac for the remainder of the
journey.
At the same time, the City of Hamburg leaves Hamburg port with the rear part of the fuselage
and continues on to Saint-Nazaire to load the other parts of the centre and forward fuselage.
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Airbus Press Office
1, Rond-point Maurice Bellonte
31707 Blagnac Cedex, France

Phone +33 (0)5 61 93 10 00

Fax +33(0)5 61 93 38 36
E-mail media@airbus.com

-2Loaded with all the aircraft fuselage elements, the boat then sails to Pauillac to deliver its
cargo.
Meanwhile, the Ville de Bordeaux and the Bore Sea sail to the ports of Naples in Italy, Cadiz
(Puerto Real) in Spain and Saint-Nazaire, before continuing to Pauillac, loaded with the
horizontal tailplane and the sub-assemblies of the fuselage and the aircraft floor.
Inland waterway transport on the Garonne river
The aircraft components have been transferred to a floating pontoon located on the Gironde
estuary near Pauillac. There, two barges (Le Breuil and Le Brion) will take over from the RoRo ships to transport these components 95 km up the Garonne river to Langon (Gironde).
Built by the Dutch shipyard De Hoop (near to Rotterdam), these barges measure 75 metres
long and 13.80 metres wide for a draught of 2.60 metres and are equipped with a rear door.
They are chartered by Airbus from the shipping company Socatra which also operates the
floating pontoon.
Four return journeys and eight days between Pauillac and Langon are required to ship all the
aircraft components. The rate of around thirty journeys per year in 2004 has increased to
more than one hundred journeys per year in 2013.
Wide-load road transport over 240 km
The last step of the transport is done by road, when the six components delivered to Langon
leave the local logistic base on trucks, taking the "itinraire grand gabarit" (ITGG) to the
"Jean-Luc Lagardre" final assembly plant in Blagnac.
The convoy, consisting of six sets of trailers with their tractors, travels only by night in two
stages: through the Gers, from Eauze to lIsle Jourdain, and finally to the final assembly line
in Blagnac (Haute-Garonne). The tractors and the trailers have been specially designed for
transport on the ITGG in cooperation and with the expertise of Transports Capelle.
The convoy travels 240 km along the ITGG at a speed of 10 to 25 km/h and stops to wait
during the day at the end of each stage on specially made parking areas. The LangonToulouse section passes through 21 towns and villages and is escorted by the police who
close 15 km sections allowing the convoy to progress and to ensure the safety of the users.
To limit the obstruction caused by the convoy, bypass routes are proposed to the users.
Lighted signs are installed along the route and at the major junctions to inform the users of
the convoy's progress.
A complete convoy can be up to 2000 metres long (accompanying vehicles included) and
involve around sixty persons (transport service, police and security forces).
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-3 Components comprising the convoy:

Wingset
Dimensions in metres
L
W
H
45.2
6.8
11.5

Weight in metric tons

Part
Jig
Total
33
76
109

Rear fuselage
Dimensions of component in Weight of component in metric
metres
tons
L
W
H
Part
Jig
Total
23
7.8
9.9
22.6
34.9
57.5

Centre fuselage

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Dimensions of component in Weight of component in metric

metres
tons
L
W
H
Part
Jig
Total
23.2
7.8
10.1
40.9
22.6
63.5

Forward fuselage

Dimensions of component in Weight of component in metric

metres
tons
L
W
H
Part
Jig
Total
21.3
7.8
9.9
20.2
35.8
56

Horizontal tailplane

Dimensions of component in Weight of component in metric

metres
tons
L
W
H
Part
Jig
Total
27.5
7.2
13.7
8.9
51.5
60.4

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