To where? To Toulouse, to win

Ishika Amerasinghe visits the hub of Airbus technology

I was Toulouse-bound. To where? To Toulouse south of France, to represent The Sunday Times at the celebrations to accept the first new Airbus A330-200 by Sri Lankan Airlines from Airbus Industrie headquarters in Toulouse and return on the new aircraft. Airbus Industrie together with Sri Lankan Airlines was hosting the media, and employees of the SL Airlines among others for this occasion.

My first time in Europe, my first time in the land of liberty, fraternity and equality.

"Extend your stay. It's a shame to go all that way and not do a mini tour of Europe," everyone told me. I couldn't do that, could I. After all the whole purpose of the trip was to return on the brand new aircraft, get a taste of its comforts and probably proclaim to the public why it should be down with the Tri-Stars and fly high with the A330-200s!

Go see Notre Dame, L'Arc d'Triomphe, Eiffel Tower and walk under the bridges of Paris.....Well the tight schedule at Toulouse sadly did not include gay Paree.

At Toulouse we were met by David Vellupillai- Regional Manager, Press Relations of Airbus Industrie. The name was intriguing as it did not go with his countenance- no offence meant. David turned out to be half Sri Lankan, although one could not trace a glimpse of it at all, he being utterly British having apparently left Sri Lanka at the tender age of 12. David was to be our guardian angel for the rest of the trip- a warm, friendly soul who made us feel at home and welcome.

Toulouse

The name itself tripped loosely off one's tongue. The weather was exquisite. Little chillier than Nuwara Eliya but bright sunshine. Apparently it had rained the week before, so we Sri Lankans had brought the proverbial sunshine with us!

This pretty, red brick city invited one to take in its vivid colours at leisure, walk along its cobbled streets and linger at its many cafes and brasseries (restaurants). But time was something I didn't have. It was more like a glimpse of Toulouse .

Rich shades of autumn oranges and reds added and blended with the beauty of the city. The colourful, bustling market stalls along the boulevards, with their fresh juicy looking veges, fruits and bunches of flowers added "soul" to the city square, studded with old buildings. Many were the city's majestic museums, but once again time was my foe. All I had was a chance of "window gazing" at one– the Augustine museum. A sudden sighting of one of the city's beautiful old churches-Saint Sernin built in several stages from the 13-17th century was in itself a moment to remember.

Two canals, the canal de Brienne and canal du Midi run through Toulouse. The banks of canal de Brienne were bedecked by trees attired in golden hues of autumn while a carpet of golden leaves completed a picture book scene.

Airbus Industrie

It was strange to imagine that Toulouse with its quaint old world charm and general air of "joie de vivre" was famous for its aero-space industry. "At Airbus Industrie we say 'To-win not To-lose'," I was told. To win against its powerful American competitor Boeing. Going by all the statistics that were given to us at a "scene setter" during a tour of Airbus Industrie they seemed to be doing just that-selling more aircraft (at least during the first nine months of this year) than Boeing, receiving more orders for aircraft and maintaining a healthy record in aircraft delivery.

Airbus Industrie is a Eu- ropean consortium boasting the most modern airline family in the world. With headquarters in Toulouse, it is owned by four leading European aerospace companies- Aerospatiale Matra-Airbus of France and Daimler-Chrysler Aerospace Airbus of Germany, British Aerospace and CASA of Spain.

Here was I- a person to whom a plane was a plane, whether it was a Concorde, a Boeing or an Airbus, actually being introduced to the Airbus Industrie aircraft family-which happens to be three. Say hello to the 107-185 seat, a single aisle A318/ A 319/ A321 family, meet the 220- 266 seat widebody twin engined A300/310 family and the most important member, the 239-380 seat widebody A330/A340 (that's us remember?). Now do I sound impressive or what?

These guys at Airbus Industrie don't believe in population control- at the moment they are working on extending their family with a very large 550-seat airliner called the A3XX, to take off sometime in the millennium.

How about the safety record, asked one of my colleagues. Now that was a chilling question. After all, in a few day's time we were to be the "lucky" guinea pigs on an inaugural flight to Sri Lanka on one of their brand new aircrafts. The reply was heartening. In its 30 year history about 20 airbuses had crashed-that too due to human error and not because of any technical defects.

Another reassuring feature was Airbus Industrie's unique "fly-by wire" technique which resulted in many common features in piloting the A330s and A340s. Now our pilots are versatile in flying the A340s so all they needed was a little bit of orientation to get a feel of flying the A330s. So we were in safe hands.

Visit to A330/A340 final assembly line

I was actually inside the plant where these big birds are put together. It was interesting to learn that only four percent of the work is actually done in the final assembly line. Fully equipped sections of the aircraft (wings, tail, fuselage etc.) are made in various factories of the four partners in different parts of the world and these bits and pieces are transported in what's called a Beluga super transporter (named after a whale because it looks like one) for final assembly in Toulouse. This cargo aircraft is apparently the largest of its kind in the world.

Now I may not be able to boast that I saw the Eiffel Tower, but the roof of this plant is held up by a steel structure that apparently has more steel than the whole Eiffel Tower. The plant also boasts of being the largest industrial complex in Europe in terms of floor area.

When we entered it was lunch time and all was quiet- I was told that it's anyway quiet. A solitary wing lay in one corner while a gaping fuselage stared at us from another. It was strange to think that in three to four months (that's how long it takes at the final assembly line) these parts would come together and it would be a complete aircraft! Oops! what was that I trod on? These were the nuts and bolts that hold these parts together. Hope it isn't from the A330 we'll be flying on!

This is where the robots apparently get into action. They drill the holes and fix the nuts and bolts. Since it was lunch time we didn't get a chance of seeing that operation but we did see the robots at their various stations. Next it was a session at the mock-up centre. That was quite exciting. We had a chance of walking in and out of A330s and 340s and having a look at innovative options that Airbus Industrie had developed for spacious lower deck- sleeper cabins in the underfloor area, with full length beds for upto 10 passengers, separate washroom area in the lower deck and much much more. And there we were like little kids, running around snapping pictures inside the comfy cabins, and against the body of mock-up planes.

Next we were off to the training centre where qualified pilots (including Sri Lankans) are given a special training programme. Here we were greeted by a somewhat flustered version of Poirot- of Agatha Christie fame (as one of my colleagues aptly described him) who took us around and gave us a chance of being pilots in simulated cockpits, at least for a brief moment.

So once again it was snap, snap, snap-as impostor pilots grinned from their cockpits!

Next week: From high flying to spiritual flight– Lourdes

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