Posted on 01/18/2005 7:45:22 AM PST by Happy2BMe
Airbus unveiled the world's biggest passenger jet in a glitzy ceremony in which the leaders of France, Britain, Germany and Spain hailed Europe's victory over the United States as the new king of the commercial skies.
The huge A380 superjumbo, which can carry up to 840 people on its two full decks, supersedes the ageing 747 by US rival Boeing as the biggest civilian aircraft ever made.
When it is put into service early next year, it will become the flagship of many airline fleets and offer unprecedented amenities on long-haul services, including, in some cases, gyms, bedrooms and bars.
For the countries which backed the 10.7-billion-euro (14-billion-dollar) development cost, the plane stood as a prominent symbol of European cooperation.
"Good old Europe has made this possible," German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told a packed hall in Airbus's headquarters in Toulouse, southwest France.
That was a barely-veiled barb recalling the US dismissal of France, Germany and other EU states in 2003 as "Old Europe" because of their opposition to the war on Iraq.
Noel Forgeard, the French head of Airbus, made similar hints in his presentation of the A380 during a spectacle featuring computer graphics, atmospheric theme music and swirling colours.
"The European states -- so easily accused of weakness -- backed this fantastic challenge 35 years ago and have believed in the A380," he said.
The hubris on display was reinforced by recent figures showing that, for the second year running, Airbus has outsold Boeing and now holds some 57 percent of the world market for passenger aircraft.
The company, a majority owned subsidiary of the listed European Aerospace and Defence Company (with 20 percent in the hands of Britain's BAE Systems), forecasts that the A380 will extend that lead.
Thirteen airlines have already placed firm orders for 139 of the planes. Airbus calculates that by 2008 it will reach the break-even point of 250 A380s sold, and from that point it will turn out 35 of the aircraft per year to rising profits.
The catalogue price of the huge machine -- boasting a wingspan of 80 metres (262 feet), overall length of 73 metres (239 feet), height of 24 metres (79 feet) and maximum take-off weight of 560 tonnes -- is between 263 and 286 million dollars, though discounts are frequently applied.
French President Jacques Chirac called the project a "big success" and said: "We can, and we must, go further on this path of European construction so essential for growth and employment."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the plane was "the culmination of many years of hard work" and congratulated the workers across Europe who made it happen.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Europe was "unstoppable" when it pooled its efforts.
The plane, Zapatero said, "has turned this historic moment into a moment in which cooperation and globalisation are giving rise to more peace and justice."
The four EU leaders later lunched together, leaving industry VIPS to get close to the huge white plane sitting in its hangar.
Airline executives at the presentation were superlative in their praise, even though the A380 has yet to undergo test flights scheduled for March or April.
Richard Branson, the head of Britain's Virgin Atlantic, said his airline would pamper passengers on the six A380s ordered by including gyms, beauty parlours, bars -- and even casinos and double beds.
The last two features meant "you'll have at least two ways to get lucky on our flights," Branson joked.
The biggest buyer of the new plane is the Emirates airline, which has ordered 43. "The A380 will be the future of air travel," its chairman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, said.
Airbus's success with the A380 is raising hackles at Boeing, which has won relatively little interest in its own new offering, a long-range mid-size plane called the 7E7 Dreamliner.
A bruising dispute over state subsidies between Boeing and Airbus is currently the subject of tense negotiations which, if they fail at the end of a three-month deadline, will blow up into a full-blown arbitration case at the World Trade Organisation.
"Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Europe was "unstoppable" when it pooled its efforts.""
Thank you, surrender monkey!
"It's very interesting, but from an economics standpoint, is any carrier really lamenting the fact that they can't move 800 passengers at once? An 800+ passenger plane is useful only if there's a need for such a behemoth."
The question is comparing the cost per mile-passanger vs smaller planes. Funny, but Southwest has lower cost per mile than the big carriers, even with smaller jets. Their secret is having the *same* models, so maintenance switch-outs are simpler; having full capacity on planes so they max revenue on what they carry; and lower labor costs (no unions, less frills, simpler reservation systems).
These behemoths go in the wrong direction on these elements. In exchange you save some on fuel and on the flight crew, amortized over bigger number of passengers. They are more like the ocean liners of old than like Southwest's cattle cars.
So, they will be bought by international carriers as flagships for certain routes. They wont be the biggest
part of the market.
Anyway, the number of orders need to be at least 250 to break even. They spent $14 billion on the program.
A380 was sold at discount, for around $170 million or so, to get the orders they did. Full price is $250 million.
The irony is this big plane is unsuited for the European market... See this:
http://www.flightsim.com/cgi/kds?$=main/feature/avsb.htm
"Some financial analysis have suggested that it could take Airbus as much as 20 years to break even on the A380 assuming their orders remain strong. Airport analysts have also jumped off the A380 bandwagon saying that “The consumer market of the 21st century will be driven on more destinations with less travel time in the air and less handling time in the airport.” By shear size, the A380 limits itself to a handful of airports that can afford to accommodate it. The A380 does not improve on existing travel times and will increase boarding and de-boarding times as much as 30%. Europe has seen a dramatic increase in rail travel due to the delays passengers currently face at the airport. Rail travel is setting new records for sales as faster locomotives and more comfortable coaches are brought to market. "
Boeing's response has been poor, though; the 747X then the Sonic Cruiser - both canned for lack of buyer interest; now, maybe the blened-wing but that is just drawing board, not a program:
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/design/q0108.shtml
Boeing needs to get on the stick if they want to win in 21st century.
Spruce Goose with "extreme makover" :)
BIGbadaboom
I think it (Spruce Goose) flew 2 flights and not further than ten miles on either of them.
"Can´t we just all get along?"
Sure, but I still hope this plane is a dud.
very informative post!
Are you a commercial pilot?
The old 1950s-era military flying wings were very unstable; I hope/assume that this blended-wing concept has resolved those aerodynamic problems.
If the EU is ever forced to go free-market, the next problem is Pilot wages.
Pilots get paid by weight. Paying 200-250,000 will cost them.
747 is being phased out, the squeeze on pilots wages is underway here in the USA. EU will have a problem later this decade. The trend is medium size jets and salaries. Also the 7E7 by Boeing (2008) is a beauty,very effecient.
Let the EU gloat now, soon the joke will be on them.
Southwest Airlines’ newest aircraft delivery, a Boeing 737-700 (left) in
its “Canyon Blue” livery meets the retiring model, the Boeing 737-200
(right) on that aircraft’s last official day in the Southwest fleet. N95, in
the vintage “Desert Orange” paint, has flown approximately 7600 days
for 67,402 flight hours with 73,922 takeoffs and landings. That’s
38,846,919 miles-- enough to travel to the moon and back 81 times.
 |
Found this after a Google search:
"Airbus said the A380 is compatible with facilities used in airports by existing large aircraft. Its large wings and new engines will allow it to take off and land in less distance than current large aircraft. The company said the footprint of the A380 landing gear does not require new runways to be built."
Another view on the need for the super-jumbos ... consider the limitation of airline slots:
http://www.thetravelinsider.info/2003/boeing4.htm
"Boeing is correct - there is a growth in secondary routes, but that is only half the story. There is also a steady growth in all passenger traffic - Boeing itself predicts a growth of more than 5% a year for many years into the future. Total passenger traffic will double within the next ten to twenty years, and this growth, combined with finite airport and runway capacity and limited numbers of 'slots' for flights in and out of airports, is pushing the need for bigger and bigger planes. Medium density routes are becoming high density routes, and high density routes are becoming too-high density.
Congestion at airports and in the skies all increase the need for larger capacity planes. Yes, there is a market for a super jumbo."
This article then goes on to criticize Boeing's lack of vision in responding to the threat of Airbus.
Yep. This behemoth will slow down all other travel as well. Bigger is not always better.
I flew on the Concorde about6 years ago. I was not impressed with the seating, but it got me from Heathrow to JFK. BTW, the Concorde never made money.
Are you jealous? Do you wish Europe msiery and failur?
Having never flown on a 747, I'm not sure of specific gate configurations for a 747 (be it different from a regular old 727, or DC 9 or such), but could you imagine what 900 passengers look like deplaning? Wouldn't it take 30 minutes (or more) just to get off the dang thing? 900 people funneled thru a single gate would be the bottleneck of all bottlenecks.
Found this info on the A380:
www.airliners.net
Many jumbojets land at Anchorage and Fairbanks to refuel. None carry passengers. Some go over at 5 miles high 5 minutes apart, some headed north and some headed west. No passengers. These are freighters. If this super guppy has the range it would be a tremendous intercontinental freighter.
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