It's the largest passenger jet ever built -- so huge that airports have to be redesigned to accommodate it. It can pack in more passengers and cargo than any other commercial airliner, yet its designers claim it will actually increase efficiency, use less fuel and generate less noise.
A380 is revealed to the public.
None Bigger
The Airbus A380 is truly a giant. It has a wingspan of 261.8 feet (79.8 meters), a length of 239.5 feet (73 meters) and a maximum take-off weight of more than 1.2 million pounds (540,000 kg).
While it is the largest passenger airliner ever made, it is not the biggest airplane in the world -- this honor belongs to the Ukrainian An-225 Cossack (see below: "The Biggest Planes Ever").
A plane this size can potentially carry hundreds more passengers than today's airliners. The A380's two passenger decks (with a cargo deck below) could be outfitted in a single-class configuration to take on up to 840 passengers. However, Airbus isn't focusing on that option, instead designing a three-class configuration for 555 passengers. That's still a marked increase over the 416 passengers that can fit into a Boeing 747-400, the current leader in passenger capacity.
The Cost of Greatness
Airbus has spent an estimated $13 billion on the development of the A380. The price for a single plane is listed at $285 million. Industry experts point out that airlines rarely pay full list price, especially if they order large numbers of planes, so it is difficult to determine exactly how many planes Airbus needs to sell to recoup the development costs. It's important to remember that a new airplane design will be modified and upgraded for decades -- Airbus has said that it's looking toward 2020 in designing the Airbus. The Boeing 747 has been flying since 1970
Interior Setup
Why choose the three-class configuration over the higher-capacity, single-class setup? The official Airbus Web site has this to say:
The A380's twin-aisle, twin-deck passenger cabin offers the long-distance traveller a whole new level of comfort. A cabin designed around a large sample of today's real passengers providing more space regardless of class of ticket, wider seats and aisles. Optional lower deck use for rest areas, business, bar or other amenities can further enhance the A380 travel experience.
The reality is, economy class seats will be about 1 inch (2.54 cm) wider, while first-class seats may fold down into beds. Some have even suggested that the A380 could be outfitted as a "luxury jet," complete with a casino, shops, hot tubs and double beds
A380 cabin mock-up, upper-deck business class
A380 cabin mock-up, upper-deck social area
A380 cabin mock-up, main-deck economy class
Most airlines are looking for efficiency rather than luxury, and the A380 provides that, as well. It has a range of 8,000 nautical miles and utilizes a host of new technologies and better engines to increase fuel efficiency.
A380 Advances
Airlines aren't ordering A380s just because it's big. The new design has to offer them a way to make more money, especially with the entire airline industry suffering from narrow profit margins. The A380 does offer opportunities for increased profit through the economics of scale.
The operating cost of an A380 is not substantially greater than that of the Boeing 747 (the closest passenger jet in size and capacity). Every extra passenger on an A380 represents money made by the airline above and beyond what they could have made on a smaller plane. The increased range also helps add to an increased number of "seat-miles" per flight. The end result is a drop in per-passenger operating costs of 15 to 20 percent, according to Airbus.
Airbus has also introduced several updated technologies in efforts to make the A380 as fuel efficient and environmentally friendly as possible. High-efficiency engines are being developed by Rolls-Royce and a partnership between General Electric and Pratt & Whitney known as Engine Alliance.
Carbon fiber, a strong, light but expensive material, is used on key parts of the A380. Roughly 25 percent of the plane's overall structure is made from carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). To create the various shapes that comprise the A380, engineers use different processes. For large, flat pieces, a computer-controlled tape-laying machine processes resin-impregnated carbon-fiber tapes in a pressurized autoclave. For curved pieces, the CFRP fabric is shaped dry and then impregnated with resin. For some parts, large pieces of carbon-fiber were stitched together by computerized, industrial sewing machines.
Just putting an A380 together presented Airbus with some problems. There was no way it could create a manufacturing facility large enough to build the entire plane in one place. Various parts are built all over Europe :
Wings - Broughton, Wales
Fuselage parts - Hamburg , Germany
Tailfin - Stade , Germany
Rudder - Puerto Real , Spain
Nose - Saint Nazaire , France
Fuselage and cockpit sub-assemblies - Méaulte , France
Horizontal tailplane - Getafe , Spain
Final assembly - Toulouse , France
Cabin installation and painting - Hamburg , Germany
Other parts are made around the world, including some in the United States . Most of the largest parts are transported by barge.
A380 wings carried on the Dee-Dee River Craft between Airbus UK's Broughton factory and Port of Mostyn
A380 forward and center fuselage components on the floating transfer station in Pauillac, FranceAirbus was worried that pilots would need extensive training on such a large aircraft, increasing the effective cost to airlines. With that in mind, it refined fly-by-wire technology to decrease the pilot workload and placed the cockpit midway between the two passenger decks to keep visibility high and make sure everything felt familiar to pilots accustomed to flying other passenger jets. A camera mounted in the plane's belly allows the pilot to check the location of the wheels. The control systems are meant to be similar to other Airbus models, minimizing the amount of additional pilot training needed to fly the A380.
A380 Background
In the early 1990s, Airbus began to study the possibility of developing a jet with passenger capacity over 500 to directly compete with the Boeing 747. Engineering and design didn't begin until 1994, when the plane was known as the A3XX. Airbus considered a wide-body, twin-tailfin design but adopted a double-deck design instead. Eventually, the plane was designated A380, which does not keep the usual numeric sequence of other Airbus planes: The "8" was chosen because it reflects the cross-section of the plane's double-deck passenger area.
A380 forward and center fuselage components on the floating transfer station in Pauillac, FranceAirbus was worried that pilots would need extensive training on such a large aircraft, increasing the effective cost to airlines. With that in mind, it refined fly-by-wire technology to decrease the pilot workload and placed the cockpit midway between the two passenger decks to keep visibility high and make sure everything felt familiar to pilots accustomed to flying other passenger jets. A camera mounted in the plane's belly allows the pilot to check the location of the wheels. The control systems are meant to be similar to other Airbus models, minimizing the amount of additional pilot training needed to fly the A380.
A380 Background
In the early 1990s, Airbus began to study the possibility of developing a jet with passenger capacity over 500 to directly compete with the Boeing 747. Engineering and design didn't begin until 1994, when the plane was known as the A3XX. Airbus considered a wide-body, twin-tailfin design but adopted a double-deck design instead. Eventually, the plane was designated A380, which does not keep the usual numeric sequence of other Airbus planes: The "8" was chosen because it reflects the cross-section of the plane's double-deck passenger area.
MSN001 entering the system assembly station (June '04)
In 2000, the first orders for A380s came in, and Airbus began laying the infrastructure for manufacturing the huge planes. This included massive hangars and factories in France , Wales , Germany , Spain and England .
The A380 project had a staff of more than 6,000 people in 2002. While work was being done at the manufacturing end, sales were also picking up, with 14 airlines ordering 154 A380s as of early 2005.
The first complete A380 was unveiled on January 18, 2005. The first test flight is scheduled for March 2005, with regularly scheduled service with Singapore Airlines to begin one year later. A cargo-only version, the A380F, will begin flights in 2008.
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