什麼是空中巴士工業公司

歐洲飛機制造企業集團，是世界第二大商用飛機制造商（僅次於波音公司〔Boeing Co.〕）。集團成員包括德國-法國-西班牙共同擁有的歐洲航空國防暨太空公司（EADS），佔80%股份，還有英國的英國航太系統公司（BAE Systems），佔20%。比利時的比利時空中巴士（Belairbus）和義大利的愛樂尼亞（Alenia）公司都是在某些選擇專案上分擔風險的合作成員。1970年由法國和德國的航太企業（後來西班牙與英國也加入）組成空中巴士公司，目的是填補短程和中程大容量噴射客機這個市場空隙，並與久已知名的美國製造商競爭。1974年它的第一個產品A300開始服務，這是第一種只有兩臺引擎的廣體噴射客機，運行成本很經濟。雙引擎的A320（1988年開始服務）又加進了許多技術發明，着名的有「線傳飛控」（用電力而非機械鏈結），用電腦控制飛行。四引擎的A340（1993）和較小的雙引擎A330（1994）都是長程飛行的機型。2000年空中巴士開始研製A380，意圖成爲具有五百五十五個旅客座位的世界最大型客運飛機。

Airbus Industrie

European aircraft-making consortium that is the world's second largest maker of commercial aircraft (after Boeing Co.). Full members include the German-French-Spanish-owned European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), with an 80-percent interest, and Britain's BAE Systems, with 20 percent. Belgium's Belairbus and Italy's Alenia are risk-sharing associate members in selected programs. Airbus was formed in 1970 by French and German aerospace firms (later joined by Spanish and British companies) to fill a market niche for short- to medium-range, high-capacity jetliners and compete with long-established American manufacturers. Its first product, the A300, entered service in 1974. It was the first wide-body jetliner equipped with only two engines for more economical operation. The twin-engine A320 (entered service 1988) incorporated numerous technical innovations, notably fly-by-wire (electric rather than mechanically linked), computer-based flight controls. The four-engine A340 (1993) and smaller, twin-engine A330 (1994) were long-range airliners. In 2000 Airbus launched development of the A380, intended to be the world's largest airliner with a typical seating of 555 passengers.