Airbus superjumbo

[brownie]

The new Airbus A380 superjumbo is unveiled today in Toulouse, southern France.

From BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4183201.stm

 

AIRBUS TO UNVEIL 'SUPERJUMBO' JET

The world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, is to be formally unveiled in France on Tuesday.

The twin-deck aircraft can carry about 555 people - more than its American competitor, the Boeing 747 jumbo jet.

By building the $11bn (£6bn) plane, Airbus is banking on demand for large planes offering cheaper seats between the world's major cities, experts say.

Boeing, meanwhile, is building smaller new aircraft able to fly direct to a wider number of destinations.

'Triumph of design'

French, British, German and Spanish leaders representing the Airbus consortium will be at "the reveal ceremony" in Toulouse.

A fifth of Airbus is owned by the UK's BAE Systems. The rest is controlled by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), and the A380 is a fundamental part of its operations.

The ceremony marks more than a decade of development of what is widely seen as a triumph of design and engineering.

For consumers, it maps out the future of air travel, or at least the version touted by Airbus.

For Airbus, it cements its position as the world's leading builder of civilian aircraft.

The chief executives of airlines which have so far ordered the A380 will also be at Tuesday's ceremony. Up until now, 129 aircraft have been sold.

'On target'

Due to enter service in 2006, the A380 will replace the Boeing 747 jumbo as the world's biggest passenger aircraft.

John Leahy, commercial director of Airbus, said the project was already well on track to break even, which would require 250 planes to be sold.

"It is quite a feat. We are quite happy that we are essentially on target," he told the BBC.

Mr Leahy downplayed the cost of the project which could be as much as 1.5bn euros over budget.

"That sounds quite a lot of money until you realise you are dealing with a programme which is about 11bn euros," he said.

Controversial subsidies

Without government assistance, the A380 would probably never have been built.

Billions of euros in have been handed over in "launch aid loans" in recent years - under generous repayment terms - to assist Airbus's development of the A380.

This has angered the US, which is home to rival aerospace giant Boeing.

The US had threatened to take the European Union to the World Trade Organisation over what it claimed were illegal subsidies but the two parties have agreed to resolve the issue through talks.

[Claude]

I heard that for the demonstration flight the new Airbus will pass under the Millau bridge

[connoisseur series500]

Flying doubledecker?

Hmm, I wonder about the aesthetics.

[couw]

Flying doubledecker?

Hmm, I wonder about the aesthetics.

it's just really big

[brownie]

It's not big... It's huge!!

Seems what we do a lot things texan-style nowadays. Longest bridge, biggest plane!

Wouldn't be surprised if that Airbus flies over the nearby Millau bridge on its first flight next March!

[JohnS]

Scares me!

[Dan Gould]

Flying doubledecker? 

Hmm, I wonder about the aesthetics.

it's just really big

Its more than just really big ... it requires major alterations both to airport gates, and due to its weight, to runways, too (I'm pretty sure).

Its going to be very interesting how the market shakes out. Personally, I think Boeing is going to be proven right that a smaller jet with greater fuel efficiency is going to prove more popular. Moving huge groups of people from point A to B-isn't that the the spoke-hub theory? How economic will this plane be if its not flying at capacity or near capacity?

A lot of credit is due to Airbus for its successes, but it may have miscalculated on this one.

[catesta]

My brother-in-law is on the Honeywell team that designs the flight programs for Airbus.

This is supposed to be a real gem.

[tjobbe]

@Dan: the A380 should be more fuel efficient than other actual aircafts per seat on 100km and the main target route will be to Asia Pacific as there you specially have a lot of restriction on available landing/starting slots because of night flight regulations so airlines cannot offer the amount of flights.

Based on my own experience many flights to some hubs in Asia are already now heavily booked again, so I guess if they do not get huge technical start up probs it might be a success story for Airbus. I know that the relative small airport of Cologne has already been equipped with a longer runway to deal as alternative A380 landing place for the Franfurt Airport as well as target for the freighter versions of it

Cheers, Tjobbe

Edited January 18, 2005 by tjobbe

[brownie]

A new runway is being constructed at New York JFK airport to accomodate the new Airbus!

From a Newsday story today:

Kennedy Airport will need $120-million worth of renovations - including widening the runways, moving a taxiway away from the terminal and strengthening bridges - in order to safely accommodate the Airbus 380, a superjumbo double-decker that has a wingspan nearly the length of a football field.

[Herb]

Big, fast, efficient, ugly, bigger body count per crash. I still prefer the good old days when you flew with armroom and legroom and class, albeit slower.

[alankin]

"We'll begin boarding with the last 200 rows..."

[Phil Meloy]

Personally, I think Boeing is going to be proven right that a smaller jet with greater fuel efficiency is going to prove more popular.

One problem with this Dan is that major airports such as London Heathrow simply do not have the capacity to land any more flights than they already do while room to expand the airport is also severely restricted. Larger planes offer a solution as regards increasing the number of people that can transit through the airport in a given period of time.

Edited January 21, 2005 by Phil Meloy

[BruceH]

I'm still waiting for the days of private aircars to arrive.

[RDK]

Whatever happened to those jetpacks they promised us decades ago?

The future is now, dammit!!!

[BruceH]

"I, for one, welcome our new superjumbo overlords."

[maren]

I'm still waiting for the days of private aircars to arrive.

I'd be happy with a Moulton Taylor Aerocar from the 1950s!

(I saw one inside the Seattle airport ten years ago, on display from the Seattle Museum of Flight -- it was prettier than the photo above -- glossy forest green )

[Leeway]

From a fully loaded Airbus, baggage claim must be a version of Hell

Just what we need, an airborne version of Greyhound

[Adam]

Still smaller than the Spruce Goose!

[catesta]

Still smaller than the Spruce Goose!

Let's hope it's more successful.

[Jazz Kat]

A380. First double decker. The 747 almost was a double decker, in one design, but they went with the other model. The Airbus A340-600 was the largest plane, until recently. Airbus and Boeing are really going at it. Boeing's answer, a smaller, more convient jet. The 7E7.

[porcy62]

Jetpacks, private aircars? What are talkin about? This is the future of private transport

Edited January 21, 2005 by porcy62

[Chuck Nessa]

"I, for one, welcome our new superjumbo overlords."

[Dan Gould]

There's a piece in today's Times about the A380 which includes this quote:

On his Web site, www.aviationplanning.com, the airline forecaster Michael Boyd dismissed the Reveal as "a coming-out party for a five-ton-overweight debutante."