They say you have to show up like 3 to 4 hours before boarding these things. Stupid.
Then you have the Boeing Dreamliners where you can taxi into a small runway...deplane the passengers then turn around unassisted and take off again.
That’s American ingenuity.
No you don't. I flew from CRP to IAH and had just over an hour of connection time for my Lufthansa flight to FRA. I got to the A380 gate at terminal D from terminal B via the terminal connecting train on the sterile side of security prior to the start of boarding. The only thing I didn't like about it was United Airlines put the wrong gate information on my ticket. They put the gate number for the upper deck which is only for premium classes, so I had to be directed to the correct line.
Because CRP is such a small airport, I only really needed to be there an hour prior to takeoff. The security lines at CRP are rather short, so if you're not there during the early morning rush hour, checking in 30-45 minutes ahead of departure is adequate. It's a lot less hassle than driving from Corpus Christi, parking in a long term parking lot. Taking my maxed out bags from my car and putting them on a shuttle bus, riding to the international departures portion of terminal D, checking in, going through the security gauntlet, walking to the gate, and waiting to board. I can be let off near the check in counter at CRP and never have to handle my checked luggage again till I get to my destination.
Nah, I've flown on A380's twice. They start boarding 45 minutes before takeoff, and it goes pretty quick - probably because they aren't operated by US airlines. :)
I remember all the fawning reports of how the A380 would soon eclipse the 747 and become the new queen of the skies. Yeah, right. There’s still very few airports that can take A380s, most of them don’t want to perform millions of dollars to “upgrade” to the A380 when cost-benefit analysis shows that they’ll never recoup that money.
It’s funny that the Airbus website brags about the 50 airports that can take the A380. 210 airports can take 747. The 777 and 787 blow all those numbers away.
The fact is, airline passengers prefer direct flights on smaller planes. Boeing smartly announced that they were getting into the super-jumbo business, let Airbus progress in that direction, then went ahead with the 787. The A380 gets adoring press but nobody wants it.