Emirates, the biggest customer of the Airbus A380, said this month it has started to strip down its first retired four-engined mammoth aircraft, saving it from the fate of spending the rest of its days in a landfill.
Other carriers such as Singapore Airlines have already started recycling their A380 jets, ushering in an era of smaller and leaner models. More than 80 per cent of the world's A380 fleet is currently in storage, with many destined for early retirement, according to Ascend by Cirium, which provides data analytics to the industry.
Long-haul travel remains restricted by travel and quarantine restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning demand for the highest capacity twin-aisle jets is comparatively low, according to Cirium.
Here is what the recycling process of an A380 superjumbo entails.
Just how big is the A380?
The Airbus A380 is one of the most popular jets with customers. The double-decker reached the end of the runway when Airbus decided to halt production of the jet in 2019 after 12 years in service because of weak demand. However, its top customer Emirates has made efficient use of it and operates the world's biggest fleet of A380s.
The behemoth aircraft has a range of 8,000 nautical miles, or 15,000 kilometres. The giant of the skies weighs between 510 and 575 tonnes, is as long as two blue whales and as tall as five giraffes.
What is the process behind recycling this behemoth?
First, the aircraft owner will remove all of the jet's valuable parts which include the engines, avionics, landing gear, seats, flaps and auxiliary power units (APUs) that are kept for future use, said Sven Daniel Koechler, founder of UAE-based Aircraft Solutions Middle East.
The interiors are removed during the dismantling. Then workers begin to strip the remaining parts on the inside (particularly the walls), cut off the wings and cut up the fuselage or the body of the aircraft.
The engines may be split into modules or stripped down to get specific life-limited parts (LLPs) or high-value components that are repairable such as blades and vanes, Richard Evans, senior consultant at Ascend by Cirium, said.
“There are likely to be quite a number of other components that could be re-used to keep other aircraft maintained but a large part of the actual structure of the aircraft (wings, fuselage, et cetera) will ultimately be reduced to scrap metal,” Mr Evans said.
The process of stripping down an A380 will be no different to a smaller airliner such as the A330 or A340, he said.
How long does it take?
The process could take about three months, with 40 employees working two shifts, Mr Koechler estimates.
How many parts are 'harvested' from this process?
Any materials that are not harvested for reuse as spare parts could still be recycled as the material is scrapped, according to Mr Evans.
“We don’t have the numbers specifically but it’s likely that more than 90 per cent by weight of the aircraft will be repurposed in one form or another,” he said.
UAE-based Falcon Aircraft Recycling, which has been contracted for the Emirates A380 recycling job, said that approximately190 tonnes of various metals, plastics, carbon fibre composites and other materials will be removed from the aircraft and passed on for recycling or repurposing through its upcycling programme. Upcycling plane parts means using old materials to make a new and different product.
What are the challenges of recycling an A380?
Many aircraft items can be difficult and expensive to recycle or dispose of, such as fire-retardant fabrics and composite materials.
Emirates said it will transform its on-board bar and other cabin features into furniture, aviation memorabilia and retail items for sale, with a portion of sale profits to go to its charity arm the Emirates Airline Foundation.
There is also a very small secondary market for A380 components, while third-party buyers of spares will be few and far between.
“The market for the A380 parts will be very limited at present and for the foreseeable future,” Mr Evans said.
Emirates said its retired A380 was brought to the airline’s Engineering Centre, where its engineers retrieved serviceable components such as engines, landing gear and flight control components.
Fixtures
50-over match
UAE v Lancashire, starts at 10am
Champion County match
MCC v Surrey, four-day match, starting on Sunday, March 24, play starts at 10am
Both matches are at ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City. Admission is free.
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Norway
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Canada
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How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Step by step
2070km to run
38 days
273,600 calories consumed
28kg of fruit
40kg of vegetables
45 pairs of running shoes
1 yoga matt
1 oxygen chamber
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, Group C
Liverpool v Red Star Belgrade
Anfield, Liverpool
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
HAEMOGLOBIN DISORDERS EXPLAINED
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
