First painted SIA A380 rolls out

by Derek Yeo - HAMBURG - 14 May 2007

SINGAPORE Airlines' first A380 airbus, resplendent in its trademark gold-blue livery, rolled out from the Airbus paint-shop in Hamburg, Germany 2 May 2007.

One hundred aircraft spray-painters took three weeks and more than 2,200 litres of paint to do the job. The paint-coat covered a total skin area of 3100 sqm. Only 0.12 mm thick, it could weather through temperature differentials between 60 and above 40 degrees Celsius.

Airbus protects the environment by using the latest technologies to paint its A380s. Electrostatic pistols are an example; these reduce toxic mist during painting work. Another is a multi-tier cleaning procedure that disposes paint particles separately by cleaning used air.

SIA is the launch airline for the A380 super-jumbo; it expects delivery of its first aircraft in October 2007. The airline has a firm order of 19 A380s.

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