Airbus Atlantic invests long term in its people and in the research resources needed to prepare for the future with high levels of expertise and cutting-edge technologies. 

Located in all the Group’s main production and engineering facilities in France. The Research and Technology (R&T) department works to develop the future technologies that will keep Airbus Atlantic at the forefront of innovation in design and manufacturing. 

The production of Airbus aircraft benefits from a truly international industrial system with cooperation across the company’s global footprint, partnered with a worldwide supply chain.
 
Airbus has evolved how its airplanes are built. New digital technologies help to deliver on time while maintaining quality, keep flexibility to adjust aircraft production, and reduce the impact of manufacturing activities on the environment for improved sustainability. 

Four concepts will be the drivers for Airbus’ industrial system transformation: co-design; digitalisation of manufacturing processes and tools; robotics and decarbonisation.

Co-design is all about designing the new programmes at the same time as Airbus designs the industrial system, integrating the needs of manufacturing and involving the supply chain in this overall process. 

Digitalisation of manufacturing processes and tools will ensure end-to-end data continuity – from engineering to manufacturing. This will facilitate data continuity and flow, transparent collaboration, enabling substantial gains in terms of performance and efficiency, lead times, standardisation and access to operational information. 

The increasing use of robotics in Airbus’ industrial system will substantially contribute to reduce production costs and increase quality standards. It will also enable teams in the manufacturing areas to concentrate on added-value activities, letting robots do the repetitive, difficult or low added-value tasks, increasing safety and overall well-being in the manufacturing areas.

The industrial system’s transformation is also driven by the ambition of Airbus to decarbonise its overall industrial activities, further limiting their impact on the environment. This includes reducing or eliminating harmful materials and chemicals on the shop floors, cutting back on the use of water and energy in manufacturing areas, and increasing the use of 3D printed parts – even with reused materials.

Airbus aircraft offer one of the safest environments with air filtration systems that ensure high levels of cabin air quality for passengers and crew, thanks to a thoroughly designed cabin “Environment Control System” (ECS). 

The ECS, which controls and monitors the air quality, temperature and pressure, also ensures that the airflow inside the cabin is constantly moving: it flows from top to bottom at one metre per second. This airflow is optimised to prevent longitudinal movement, so there is no spread between adjacent seat rows.

In addition, during flight the air is constantly entering and leaving the cabin. As fresh air enters the cabin from outside, the same quantity of ‘used’ air from the cabin is expelled overboard via the pressurisation outflow valves, fully renewing the cabin air about every two to three minutes. For comparison, air in hospital rooms and classrooms is exchanged about every 10 minutes and about 20 minutes in offices.

Any recirculated air is first passed through High-Efficiency Particulate Arrestance (HEPA) filters before it is mixed with the fresh air from outside. Overall, the HEPA filters eliminate more than 99.9 percent of particles from recirculated air, ensuring that the mix of fresh and pre-filtered recirculated air is clean and virus-free. 

HEPA technology, originally developed for the US military to prevent the spread of airborne radioactive contaminants, has been installed in all Airbus aircraft since 1994. The filters, usually installed close to the centre wingbox in the underfloor area of the cabin, are known for their effectiveness in capturing microscopic airborne particulates covering typical bacteria and viruses.

The newest freighter coming to the large cargo market is the A350F. Bringing more efficiency with the latest-generation innovations designed to reduce fuel burn and carbon emissions by up to 40% compared to current in service freighters.

The A350F will embark on its first flight in 2025. When it enters service in 2026, the aircraft will be able to carry a payload of up to 111 tonnes over a range of up to 4,700 nm.

Our Direct Receiving Station (DRS) provides direct access to our full constellation of Earth observation satellites.

Our modular and secure turnkey solutions include:

• The infrastructure, i.e. the antenna to receive the telemetry from the satellites
• A terminal to turn telemetry into image products, 
• A data management system to display and distribute the data. 

We also provide training, customer support, technical assistance and maintenance. This enables customers to manage the entire satellite imagery production chain, including tasking, acquisition, reception and distribution. Customers benefit from unparalleled coverage at special prices, with full flexibility in terms of tasking and download. Our DRS network currently consists of 24 partners worldwide.

Our portfolio of satellite communication terminals offers the right solution for your mission. Recognising that today's operations span many different domains, with different requirements for data, voice or both, Airbus offers a comprehensive SATCOM terminal portfolio covering all domains, including On-the-Move (COTM/SOTM) solutions.

We partner with the best terminal manufacturers and invest in our own technology for airborne applications (AirPatrol and Janus).

Connecting our customers in the harshest environments with terrestrial solutions.

Our wireless and radio networks enable communications in the harshest environments - even where satellite services are not an option. We use a range of commercial wireless technologies, including LTE (Long Term Evolution) for large fixed sites or when you are on the move. Our agile solution is also 5G-ready, enabling radio cells to be deployed in a wider range of environments.