Summary
- Emirates became the first airline to change the landing gear on the Airbus A380.
- The Airbus A380’s landing gear can support a weight of up to 390 tons on landing.
- Emirates has a contract with Lufthansa Technik to overhaul its A380 landing gear.
Because commercial airlines carry out numerous flight cycles, they need to remove and replace a plane’s landing gear every ten years or after 18,000 flight cycles, depending on the aircraft model and regulations in the country it operates from. This article discusses how Dubai-based Emirates became the first airline to change the landing gear on the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380.
For many years, Boeing had dominated the high-capacity widebody aircraft market with its popular Boeing 747, and European plane maker Airbus decided that it wanted a slice of the pie. Designated as the A3XX, Airbus unveiled the prototype aircraft in Toulouse on January 18, 2005.
After numerous delays, the first double-decker Airbus A380 entered service with Singapore Airlines on October 25, 2007. Emirates was the second airline to receive the A380, entering service in August 2008.
Emirates first replaced the landing gear on an A380 in 2018
|
In service |
Parked |
Total |
Average age |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Emirates A380 fleet* |
92 |
24 |
116 |
9.6 years |
*Data from Planespotters.net
On May 29, 2018, Emirates Engineering successfully replaced the landing gear on an Airbus A380 with the registration A6-EDF. Emirates took delivery of the aircraft in December 2009, and now that it was nearing ten years old, Emirates decided that it was time to replace the plane’s landing gear.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
The landing gear on an Airbus A380 consists of five sets: two under the wings, two under the aircraft’s body, and one under the plane’s nose. The A380 landing gear can support a weight of approximately 570 tonnes on take-off and over 390 tonnes on landing.
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The work was carried out at Emirates state-of-the-art aircraft hangars on the north side of Dubai International Airport (DXB). Built in 2006, the fully air-conditioned buildings are large enough to accommodate the Airbus A380 and are the largest aircraft maintenance facility in the Middle East. According to Emirates,
“Emirates Engineering operates modern and extensive facilities in Dubai, including six heavy maintenance hangars capable of conducting C-Checks on the Airbus A 380 and the world’s largest dedicated aircraft painting facility, to maintain Emirates’ fleet of over 260 Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft. Emirates Engineering also offers Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services to external parties leveraging off its experience of being the world’s largest operator of the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 777 aircraft.”
Photo: Emirates
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Late last year, Emirates Executives told Simple Flying that the Dubai-based mega carrier would continue to fly the giant Airbus A380 into the 2040s. At the last Dubai Airshow, the airline’s CEO, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, told me that the airline would continue to buy aircraft from lessors at the right price to enable this. How long do you think Emirates will keep flying the Airbus A380? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
The Airbus A380 has 22 wheels
- 22 landing wheels
- Gear extension and retraction systems
- Steering controls
- Braking controls
- Sensors and monitoring systems
The landing gear system on an Airbus A380 has 22 landing wheels. In addition to the wheels, there is also the landing gear mechanism, which includes the gear extension and retraction systems, brakes, and steering controls.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Built for the largest passenger plane in the world, the landing gear is robust enough to handle a weight of 590 tons on takeoff and over 390 tons when landing. When aircraft take off, they are always heavier because of the fuel onboard; most will be burnt off when they land.
The team at Emirates Engineering accomplished the task in 14 days, clocking thousands of hours. For the duration of the work, the plane had to be lifted on jacks, as seen in the Emirates video below.
When speaking about the job, Emirates Senior Vice President of Engineering Maintenance Jaffar Nasser said:
“The first complete replacement of landing gears on our Airbus A380 aircraft is an important milestone for us. This and other similar achievements by the Emirates Engineering team reflect the degree of planning, preparation, and expertise that go behind the successful execution of complex projects such as this one. (…) By extending our services to third-party airlines, we share our expertise and enhance engineering procedures globally.”
Photo: Emirates
Following the successful changing of the A380’s landing gear, several more Emirates A380s were due to undergo the same process as the airline’s fleet of Airbus A380s ages.
Emirates’ contract with Lufthansa Technik
In March 2023, Lufthansa Technik won a contract from Emirates to service its Airbus A380 fleet. The German MRO giant aimed to perform landing gear maintenance and overhauls at Lufthansa Technik Landing Gear Services (LTLGS) in London. In November, Lufthansa Technik reported that the first overhaul of the Emirates A380 landing gear was completed at LTLGS.
Photo: Lufthansa Technik
According to the Senior Vice President of Corporate Sales EMEA at Lufthansa Technik, Kai Roepke,
“The fact that Emirates, as the largest Airbus A380 operator in the world, assigns us again to overhaul their flagship aircraft, is a great compliment to our work. It proves that our services consistently align with the exacting standards of our customer. Our teams look forward to further expanding our relationship with Emirates.”
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