The double-decker A380 ends the nearly 37-year reign of the Boeing 747 jumbojet as the world’s most spacious passenger plane. The A380 is also the most fuel efficient and quietest passenger jet ever built, from inside and outside, according to its European manufacturer, Airbus SAS.
It was delivered to Singapore Airlines on Oct. 15, nearly two years behind schedule after billions of dollars in cost overruns for Airbus. Still, the wait was worth it, says Singapore Airlines, which got the exclusivity of being the plane’s sole operator for 10 months.
“This is indeed a new milestone in the timeline of aviation,” said Chew Choon Seng, chief executive of Singapore Airlines, or SIA, in a speech before the departure.
The Boeing 747 jumbo jet generally carries about 400 passengers. The A380 — as tall as a seven-story building with each wing big enough to hold 70 cars — is capable of carrying 853 passengers in an all-economy class configuration.
Pretty cool stuff, this thing’s an animal. We have the contract to build parts with Emirates :tup:
Pretty cool, but if they don’t make any progress on getting the wake turbulance issue reclassified this thing will never have the sales they had hoped for.
Basically they hoped for big sales because packing that huge number of people on each plane = more money per flight in overly crowded airports. Then the FAA rated the wake turbulance safe zone about 2+ miles farther out than any other plane, which negates the people moving advantage of having a bigger plane.
All I know is that they are working on it, and that they (Airbus’ sales) are worried about the 787 when that becomes operational. That one’s going to be a game changer too. We’ve got contracts with future Dreamliner operators too and all I can say is this is going to be one awesome jet. The windows alone on the 787 are like picture windows compared even to a triple seven, and the pressurization is at unheard of levels. All in a twin-engine too.
I don’t know a lot about the airline industry.
Why are bigger planes better?
If that plane gets a “check engine light” then 853 people are sitting on the tarmac.
I don’t know a lot about the airline industry.
Why are bigger planes better?
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[quote=“JayS,post:7,topic:37583"”]
Basically they hoped for big sales because packing that huge number of people on each plane = more money per flight in overly crowded airports.
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Less costs after initial purchase per person (you maintain fewer airframes, engines, flight systems, etc) as well as reduced inventory stores of parts, specialized tools and equipment, and material. However you don’t have the flexibility of smaller aircraft like the A330/340, 757, and 777.
It’s biggest drawback is also it’s size - it can’t fit on many runways right now…
yeah, that’s what I was thinking.
The flexiblilty of smaller planes would seem to be a huge advantage.
One thing about bigger planes is fewer flights which might help the scheduling nightmares/delays right now.
I don’t, I guess there are pros and cons to each.
If I were crazy enough to invest in airlines, which I’m not, I’d be putting my money on the guys working on smaller more efficient planes instead of jumbo monsters.
10 years from now NextGen (the GPS based air traffic control system) will be live and it will be MUCH easier to do direct flights from small airport to small airport, meaning less people per flight, meaning no need for 600+ passenger planes.
If I were crazy enough to invest in airlines, which I’m not, I’d be putting my money on the guys working on smaller more efficient planes instead of jumbo monsters.
10 years from now NextGen (the GPS based air traffic control system) will be live and it will be MUCH easier to do direct flights from small airport to small airport, meaning less people per flight, meaning no need for 600+ passenger planes.
yeah the wake problem is a real killer. it isnt able to fly into the highest traffic airports because of the wake…and that kills other planes landing soon after not to mention the effect on the environment within its radius (for some reason 10mi sticks in my head not 2)
yeah the wake problem is a real killer. it isnt able to fly into the highest traffic airports because of the wake…and that kills other planes landing soon after not to mention the effect on the environment within its radius (for some reason 10mi sticks in my head not 2)
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I looked it up. It got a rating of 6/8/10 for heavy/medium/light, as compared to a 4/5/6 for the 747.
For those not into commercial aviation, basically that means that when an A380 takes off or lands you have to keep an 8 nautical mile spacing behind it and a smaller 737 or the 737 may get knocked right out of the sky. Remember how Goose died in Top Gun when they went through the jet wash? Yeah, same idea but now you have a couple hundred people, no parachutes, and a big plane full of explosive fuel above a densely populated city. That’s why they take wake turbulance studies so seriously. 3 miles makes a big difference when at any moment the US airspace looks like this:
