A Great Day For Commercial Aircraft Fans! The A380 Rollout

[x635 4,066]

Today was a great day for us commecial aircraft fans. Airbus rolled out the A380, the worlds largest passenger aircraft. It has two full length passenger decks, plus a cargo deck, and holds 500-800 passengers. This will definently revulutionize a lot of things. I hear airlines will have some awesome interior layouts, some of which never seen in commecial mainstream jets before. Airports have to make modifications, including double-decker gates and runway modifications.

I love Airbus planes. My favorite airline, Jetblue, uses the A320's. They're also getting 100 new Embraer 190's, which will be awesome. Boeing's cool too, and I can't wait to see the rollout of the 7E7. I can't wait to ride on the A380, E190, and B7E7! And of course, I love the A320 and look foward to my next trip with Jetblue.

And also check out this awesome airplane site, www.airliners.net

Airbus Unveils Largest Commercial Jet  

The double-decker A380 "superjumbo," capable of flying up to 800 passengers, gives the European plane maker a new flagship and completes its range of jets at a time when Boeing is losing market share and reducing some production.  

French President Jacques Chirac and other European leaders struck a triumphal note at the ceremony, hailing the A380 as a sign of Europe's capacity to generate world-beating industries.  

"It's a symbol of economic strength, technological innovation, the dedication of the work force that built it and above all of a confidence that we can compete and win in the global market," British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) said.  

But the A380, which was partially funded by European governments, amounts to a huge bet that carriers need ever-bigger planes to process a growing numbers of passengers through the busiest hub airports. Airbus is investing $13 billion to develop the plane, which has a list price of $280 million apiece. Test flights should begin by March 31, but commercial passengers won't be able to buy tickets until sometime next year.  

If Airbus is right, the A380 could consign the once-dominant Boeing 747 jumbo jet to history, deal a further blow to the Chicago-based company and leave Airbus with a monopoly in a lucrative and fast-growing market. Boeing would need 10 years or more to develop a rival to the A380, industry experts say.  

But if its sales forecasts prove to be too optimistic or the new plane's production costs soar, then the Airbus lead over Boeing in plane deliveries over the past two years could disappear.  

Boeing sees a different future, one in which industry deregulation and smaller, long-range planes like its planned two-aisle 7E7 Dreamliner allow passengers increasingly to fly direct, spurning stopovers. The 7E7, which will seat between 217 and 289 passengers, is scheduled to debut in 2008.  

But Boeing is hedging its bets. Last year, it announced plans for a larger, 450-seat 747, despite having previously dismissed the need — and Airbus' plans — for a bigger plane. A launch decision is expected in mid-2005.  

New orders for the current 747 are on the decline, dropping from 35 in 1999 to 10 in 2004. Boeing delivered 15 last year and its current backlog is down to only 32, according to the company. It has no orders for the aircraft so far this year.  

"Clearly, we will not get back to the glory days of large manufacturing production rates" for the 747, said Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher. But he added, "We're quite happy with where the 747 fits in the market, today and going forward."  

Jon Ash, president of InterVISTAS-ga2, a Washington-based aviation consulting firm, also said he sees a future for the Boeing plane. "The 747 is going to have the middle market, for those carriers that don't believe they can generate the kinds of volumes that are necessary for the A380, or where their route structure is not constrained by congestion," he said.  

Airbus already has 149 orders for the A380, which has a 262-foot wingspan and a tail as tall as a seven-story building. It says it needs 100 more to break even, and a further 500 before it can deliver on its pledge of a 20 percent return on investment.  

In a three-class cabin layout, the A380 will carry 555 passengers — 33 percent more than the 747. On a full tank, it will carry passengers 5 percent farther than Boeing's longest-range jumbo, Airbus claims, at a per-passenger cost up to one-fifth below its rival's.  

Airlines, which have closely guarded their A380 cabin designs, will decide how to use the extra space. Low-cost carriers could operate a single economy-class layout accommodating as many as 800 passengers. In contrast, Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson said his airline, which has ordered six A380s, will offer private double beds for first-class passengers.  

CEO Chew Choon Seng said Singapore Airlines will begin using the plane for service to London and Sydney when it becomes the first carrier to carry commercial passengers aboard the A380 in mid-2006.  

Fred Smith, CEO of FedEx Corp., which has ordered 10 of the A380's freighter version, said the plane and its 165-ton payload would have "very far-reaching effects on the efficiency of world trade" and boost FedEx's network between the United States, Asia and Europe. Rival United Parcel Service Inc. has ordered 10 superjumbos.  

Airbus' announcement follows a decision last week by the United States and European Union (news - web sites) to try to amicably resolve a long running dispute over government subsidies for the world's two biggest aircraft makers. Both sides committed to stopping the subsidies for three months while talks continue.  

The weak dollar is another potential factor. Most of Airbus' costs are in euros, and the plane maker said last week it has been forced to raise its dollar-denominated prices to cope.  

Lehman Brothers analyst Joseph Campbell predicted in a report that the dollar's slide, combined with a U.S. airline recovery, would halt Boeing's loss of market share.  

Nonetheless, Boeing is looking vulnerable, announcing plans Friday to end production of its 106-seater 717 jet. Should Boeing lose a $23 billion Pentagon (news - web sites) contract for mid-air refueling tankers as a result of a corruption scandal, doubts have been raised about whether production of the 767 can continue until the arrival of its successor, the 7E7.  

[JBE 328]

It's it's it's BIIIIG!!!!

[mikeinet 37]

I heard that there's doubts if it can actually fly/has never actually been flown to test it.... that's quite the big bird!

[x635 4,066]

Virgin wants casino on its A380 jets  

Branson says the carrier also wants gyms, salons, private double beds on supersized planes.

January 18, 2005: 6:50 AM EST  

 

TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) - Gyms, beauty parlors, private double beds and an in-flight casino will be featured on Virgin Atlantic's giant Airbus A380 planes when it starts flying them in three years' time, the airline's half-owner Richard Branson said.  

"Since you have gaming and you have private double beds maybe there are two ways of getting lucky on a Virgin plane," entrepreneur Branson told reporters in France.  

Announcing Virgin's plans for the double-decker jet being unveiled Tuesday in Toulouse, France, Branson said a gym and gambling area offering blackjack and roulette would be available to economy and business class passengers.  

Virgin Atlantic, which already offers seats which convert into double beds on some of its existing aircraft, plans to install 35 private double beds on each A380.  

Virgin Atlantic, which is 49 percent owned by Singapore Airlines, has ordered six A380s with options for a further six, worth a total of $3 billion. The first aircraft is scheduled for delivery in May 2008.  

Virgin Atlantic was originally scheduled to take delivery of the A380 in 2006 but delayed the plans due to concerns that some major airports, particularly Los Angeles, would not be ready to accommodate the plane in time, as well as delays in sourcing components for some design innovations.  

Branson said Virgin Atlantic was now confident that airports were prepared and suggested the company would take up its options for a further six planes sooner rather than later.  

"The chances are we are going to want more than six," he said.  

He also said that A380 parent Airbus had guaranteed Virgin the plane would deliver lower operating costs and had promised to compensate the airline if cost savings dropped below a certain level.    

[E64PCFD2044 1]

if they can build a plane that big just think what they can put inside it....I think the casino thing might just work out

[Guest WolfEMT]

It may be a good looking bird, but it's really not that practical. It's range is significantly less than that of the 747 and 777; also, with all these added passenger amenities comes added cost that makes a trans-atlantic flight more of a pain in the wallet than actually enjoyable.

[Pudge3311 5]

great concept, but dont you think we are growing too big for ourselves? Bigger is better, but when you look at the big picture, if it causes a lot of airports to spend money on improvements to runways and loading areas, I dont see them being all that successful. Probably better suited for cargo than passengers.

[E64PCFD2044 1]

true that Pudge...but look at all the new fire apparatus...no the streets aren't widening, no the bridges aren't getting heightened, but we have more active members and we need a place to put them as per NFPA...hence the bigger rigs that barely fit in the firehouse and hardly turn a corner...but we love the new rigs and they work out great. I think this plane will work out just fine...(I'm not bashing you BTW )

[firemn23 8]

"Since you have gaming and you have private double beds maybe there are two ways of getting lucky on a Virgin plane,"

My favorite quote

[afd65 4]

u have a sick mind firemn23

[COMMANDCHIEF 4]

Just imagine the debris fields these things will be creating... And they WILL... be creating them.

[Guest]

Some A380 virtual interior photo links:

http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projec...a380/a3807.html

http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projec...a380/a3808.html

http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projec...a380/a3809.html

[Guest WCDES636]

A casino in a PLANE!!!!!!!! I'm in.

[WAS967 97]

Frankly, huge planes like this scare me. The bigger they are the harder they fall, cause what goes up must come down.