Airbus has repainted and repositioned a former Malaysia Airlines A380, MSN114, as a new FlightLab to support tests of next-generation commercial aircraft technologies. The aircraft, now carrying the temporary registration 2-JAYN, arrived in France after repaint work in Shannon and a low pass over Toulouse on 21 August, ahead of a wider conversion programme linked to CFM International’s RISE open-fan engine demonstrator.
The superjumbo is set to replace the long-serving A380 testbed F-WWOW and will give Airbus a large flying laboratory for propulsion and systems development. Major modification work is expected to begin in 2027, with flight trials targeted for 2029. The planned installation of the RISE demonstrator in the No. 2 engine position will require substantial structural and systems changes, underlining the scale of the campaign now being prepared around the aircraft.
The programme fits into Airbus’s broader effort to reduce risk around future engine architectures and other aircraft technologies for its next generation of commercial jets. MSN114 had been stored for years before being recovered for test duties, and its new FlightLab colours provide the first visible sign of a conversion that will continue well beyond the aircraft’s recent return to France.