Aerospace technology centre CTA, based at the Alava Technology Park at Miñano, is currently working with European aircraft maker Airbus on the launch of a programme designed to prolong the service life of A320 single-aisle aircraft (the world's best-selling aircraft) for an additional period of between 10 and 20 years.

After a meeting with project partners, which include Airbus delegations in Germany, France and Spain, CTA management announced that the idea was keep fleets of A320s in the air beyond the standard 60,000 flight hours.

Its economic efficiency and low fuel consumption mean that demand for the A320 is still running very high, particularly from low-cost airlines and operators.

Management spokesmen at CTA explained that, after nearly 20 years in service and with 3,300-plus aircraft still active under some 200 operators, the A320 programme is clearly approaching the end of its original validity period. What CTA is now doing, as its part in the project, is to take charge of seven features under contract, including static tests on areas of the aircraft and hold loads.

CTA is also working with Airbus on fatigue and stress testing for the main undercarriage doors and the nozzle, besides performing a further two tests on subcomponents in the structure of the horizontal stabilizer and a stress test on the rudder. CTA is currently negotiating with Airbus the possibility of extending its testing to other programmes.

Founded in 1997 by aerospace multinational Aernnova, ITP and local engineering firm Sener, CTA also has a fluid dynamics test lab at the Vizcaya Technology Park, where it runs experiments on jet turbine components.