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The Airbus A380 has all the prerequisites for cargo conversions on paper. However, the aircraft is too heavy and too costly to operate compared to other cargo aircraft conversions. This points to a single destiny for the type; ending up in an aircraft graveyard. On paper, the A380 would make an excellent cargo aircraft. Alas, there are some flaws in the A380 design when it comes to cargo. The first is how heavy the A380 is. Because the A380 has a heavier empty weight than the competitive Boeing 747-8F cargo carrier, it actually costs more to get the aircraft in...

The skill of two pilots was captured on video as they landed the world's largest passenger plane sideways while battling heavy crosswinds at Heathrow Airport. The Etihad Airbus A380, which is flown by two pilots, can be seen hovering metres above the tarmac as it attempted to touchdown on Saturday during Storm Dennis.

BOEING is to strike back at Airbus with the launch in a few months of a new version of the venerable Boeing 747 called the 747 Advanced. British Airways may become one of the first customers. Revelations of Boeing’s plans will intensify its commercial rivalry with Airbus, which is due to stage the first flight of its new $13.5 billion (£7.2 billion) A380 within weeks. It will supersede the 747 as the largest passenger airliner. The Boeing move will also add fuel to the trade battle between Europe and America over subsidies to aircraft makers. A breakdown in talks last...

Out of Time Airbus CEO Tom Enders expressed regrets over the timing of the A380 program, saying, “There has been speculation that we were 10 years too early; I think it is clear that we were 10 years too late.” But it was closer to four decades too late, or perhaps three decades too soon. There was not enough demand for an aircraft that size by the time the A380 rolled out in 2005, as proven by the aircraft's inability to attract sizeable orders in its brief lifetime. The 747 has lasted five decades and still maintains a sizable share...

“I can’t get no respect,” moaned the late and overweight comedian Rodney Dangerfield. The Airbus A380, largest and heaviest airliner in operation today, could say that too after Air France reportedly will dump half of its A380 fleet—aircraft built and tested at the “hometown” Airbus factory in Toulouse. Like the quashing of a recent rumor that Lufthansa was on the verge of ordering another 15 A380s, this is another black eye for the world’s largest passenger plane. After all, if France and Germany, the countries that build the A380, don’t want it, who will?

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Long-haul carrier Emirates purchased 40 American-made Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners on Sunday at the start of the biennial Dubai Air Show, a $15.1 billion deal certain to please U.S. President Donald Trump who has touted the plane's sales as a job creator in America. The deal appeared to surprise Boeing's archrival Airbus, whose staff had attended a long-delayed news conference and left the room just moments before the announcement. Airbus has pinned hopes of continuing production of its double-decker jumbo jet on Emirates, the world's largest operator of the aircraft which took delivery of its...

Here at the world's busiest airport -- with seven concourses and more than 200 gates -- a gate for the Super Jumbo Airbus A380 could not be provided. That forced Qatar Airways passengers to deplane Wednesday via mobile stairs and shuttle buses. Atlanta's airport has only one gate that can accommodate the A380 -- the world's largest airliner. The airport and resident hub carrier Delta Air Lines said they could not make that gate available. The very public battle between Delta Air Lines, the world's second largest airline, and competitor Qatar Airways represents a microcosm of the national debate over...

LOS ANGELES — Every time Qantas lands one of its giant Airbus A380s at Los Angeles International Airport, parts of the nation's fourth-busiest airport come to a halt. Service roads, taxiways and runways must be closed to airfield trucks, cars and other commercial aircraft as the world's largest passenger plane — with wings almost as long as a football field — arrives, departs and taxis with an official escort of operations vehicles. The plane is so immense that air traffic controllers give it priority so it doesn't have to wait for takeoff at the end of the southern runways in...

Saudi prince buys world's first 'Flying Palace' By Aislinn Simpson  Last Updated: 3:07pm GMT 12/11/2007     A Saudi billionaire has raised the stakes in the rich mens' toys game by investing in the world's first ever "Flying Palace".Rumours have been swirling for some time about who would be the first to sign up for the "VVIP version" of the new double-decker Airbus A380.   Prince Al-Waleed signs on the dotted line to purchase his Airbus 380 at the Dubai air show   Commercial airlines including Singapore Airlines have already taken possession of some of the planes and during last...

It may trail the historic impact of Charles Lindbergh's 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic, but the Spirit of St. Louis also did not have a wingspan wider than a football field or space for more than 500 passengers. For plane builder Airbus and German airline Lufthansa AG, the A380's first flight to North America on Monday is a chance to show off the superjumbo to potential U.S. buyers and to the airports they hope will be flight bases for the double-decker jet. "We're talking about an airplane that is representing aviation in the 21st century in terms of efficiency,"...

PARIS (Reuters) - European plane maker Airbus said on Sunday it had interrupted an evacuation test for its new A380 double-decker plane after an incident in which several people were injured as an evacuation slide dis-inflated. The test took place in a hangar at its Hamburg site in Germany under supervision of the European certification authority and in the presence of a representative from the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority, as it is part of the certification procedure. "Such an incident during such a trail is not unprecedented," said Airbus chief operating officer and head of the A380 programme, Charles Champion,...

BLAGNAC, France - The world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, successfully took off on its maiden flight Wednesday, a milestone for aviation and for the European aircraft-maker's battle with American rival Boeing Co. The giant plane's four engines hauled its double-decked, 308-ton fuselage aloft at 10:29 a.m., an achievement watched by thousands of spectators 101 years after the Wright brothers' first flight. The plane was carrying a crew of six and 22 tons of on-board test instruments. Its first flight was expected to last about four hours. "The takeoff went perfectly," Alain Garcia, an Airbus engineering executive, said on...