Officially announced today. www.airbus.com http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search <<search for the Airbus A380.
I think that Qantas is first cab off the rank to get one of these babies!! This means that for the 1st time there will be not only a direct Sydney-LA flight but also a Melbourne-LA flight, and vice-versa. Excellent.
While in concept it's a great idea have any of you thought of the following: -The time required to get 550 people on and off the plane. Pre-boarding will now start 1 hour prior. -The time to get all the luggage off this thing and back to you -The havoc it will cause to have several of these land at the same time and have literally 3000 people embark -The time required to get 550 people to check in at the counter. I think there will be a lot of uninteded consequences of this thing. Regards, Jon P. Kofod www.flatoutracing.net
I am not a huge fan of Airbus, so I needless to say dont like the idea of a giant one... I really hate to bring up such a morbid subject, but what happens if this aircraft ever goes down? It could be absolutely catastrophic!
They wanna make a 800 passenger model. One crash loaded and it will be the most tragic air crash ever. 1. Don't buy French. 2. Don't fly French. AA fly's only 777's with no plans on the AirBloat 380
Not to mention that few (if any) of those fanciful ideas will make production. I'd put the odds of an inflight gym, church, shopping center, self serve kitchen, piano bar, etc at 2%. Those things don't pay a fare, more seats do. Reminds me of those stupid ideas when the 747 came out. A piano bar... in a plane? Fat chance. And if one does happen to make it, I give it 2 yrs tops before it's converted into 16 bus class seats.
Jordan probably knows more about this but wasn't there a midair between a couple of jetliners a few years back that killed over 500?
Nope http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/gwr5/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=43912 Maybe this one: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/gwr5/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=43911
I am one of the "target" customers of this thing, I make a lot of trans pacific flights (the international date line thing was cool the first 3-4 times ). Airbus' goal was to get a lot of people into an airport at once. I hate this goal. Yes, the 747 is a neat plane, but for a business traveller, its a bus with wings. Nothing glamorous, just a bus. I've flown all three levels (first, business, and coach) on these flights. Guess what, they all suck. There is no room because the new regulations don't allow you to wander around the plane which helps circulation in your legs. Immigration at Narita can take 3 hours if 3 747's arrive at the same time. If 3 A380's land at the same time, you might as well bring a sleeping bag. I much prefer Boeing's approach with the 7E7. Smaller plane, more flights. Even with today's planes (and the A380 is built for "the future"). I've had to fly through Europe to get to Asia because everything westbound was full. The spin is to make international travel glamorous. Guess what, it isn't. No matter how much you pay. Sorry for the ranting...
You obviously dont own one of these..... Dont worry mate. I dont either. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Wife's family had 4 twin engine planes when she was growing up (I thought it was 2, but was corrected at Christmas, tail numbers available on request). Her dad's advice is just to charter, not to own. Yes, they are nice. But after 400k+ miles, I just hate flying...
Problem is most of those biz jets don't have transcontinental range so if you're doing US-Asia or US-Australia (my trips) you'd have to buy a big bloody airplane. Also, there are already LA-Melbourne direct flights on Qantas. 15 hours and change - took it a year ago to go to the Cup. Cheers Kevin
It will fly no problem BUT! It's 5 TONS overweight and the drag penalty of the fuselage is going to make it a pig on fuel, even with the "new" fuel saving engines. It cannot and never will be able to haul more payload (weight) than a 747 and in (not) doing so travel as far. Physics.......................................... All of the cool amenities on the plane remind me of the early days of the 747 with spiral staircase and stand-up bar on the upper deck. All of that was ditched in short order for more seats and MORE MONEY! One more tid bit; the wiring in the plane is aluminum to save weight.
