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.
I heard it will be configured to carry about 550 passengers. Airline travel is a big enough hassle already, without getting on such a huge plane with so many people. Not me. Maybe a new airline company will be created, called Noah's Ark. I guess it will appeal to herds of tourists headed for Disney from Europe? Or maybe to herds of DemoRats leaving LAX for Paris?
FedEx just needs one US hub and one or two Asian hubs to justify it for trans-Pacific freight. They shouldn't have any trouble arranging that. Do you think Memphis would balk if they threatend to move their hub from that city (although that city is not well located for the Asian service.)
Despite the sour grapes on this thread, Airbus is burying Boeing badly. Boeing better shape up, or we'll lose the commercial airline market entirely.
Thanks, didn't notice the UPS logo.
Make that FedEX and UPS will be two that might make a profit.
This has nothing to do with AirBus, but how and why do winglets work and what do they do?
That's a sharp looking plane.
I'm going to get flamed for this:
AirBus planes are actually pretty nice. I had a chance to fly on a newer one a few years back. I was impressed.
That being said, I'm also a BMW owner. 1985 E28 535i. The car is just plain built better than most American cars. It's cheap to maintain and runs like a champ at 192k miles. Everything built in Europe is not inferior.
However, the new AirBus A380 is just plain overkill. Besides, we haven't even see the test flights yet!
That's one big juicy terrorist target no matter which airline buys them. But US airlines won't buy them for this reason. Cargo carriers have...UPS I believe.
http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/concorde.html
I'm pretty confident they considered that.
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I agree with you. But our gubmint can't even agree on something as basic as defending our border and sovereignty from an alien invasion (thus destroying our economy through a devalued market and currency) - let alone something like coming together to subsidize crucial industries for the sake of national survival.
By the time the bureaucrats in D.C. figure out that all of Asia and now all of Europe have subsidized to muscle the U.S. into mediocracy and 3rd-World-Status, it will have been too late.
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Main Entry: me·di·o·cre
Pronunciation: "mE-dE-'O-k&r
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin mediocris, from medius middle + Old Latin ocris stony mountain; akin to Latin acer sharp -- more at EDGE
: of moderate or low quality, value, ability, or performance : ORDINARY, SO-SO
As I posted on another thread...
Actually, on the terrorist issue I'd rather be flying one of these then on a 747. The new Airbus is going to be one of the few planes flying that has a double-door system on it's cockpit- basically it's like an airlock, where only the inner or outer door can be open at any one time, not both. This provides a far higher degree of safety hijack-wise, and ensures that a terrorist can't rush the cockpit when stewardesses are bringing drinks to the pilots etc. The A380's the only plane that has this as standard, although El Al have fitted it on many of their planes as well I believe.
Personally, I'm looking forward to flying on one. Should be interesting if nothing else.
To be honest, if the choice was up to me, I would avoid flying on this plane for the simple reason that boarding and de-boarding would probably take forever. How long would it take to board 800 passengers?
To Me its a Major Terrorist Death Trap!
"The bigger the better" is usually the USA line. Interesting that Europe's most well-subsidized industry has chosen to bet on this monster. What will the hemp-chewing socialists at DU say about a massive flying bourgiose casino.
I may be looking at this wrong but based on the downward drag graphics it looks like it'd be much easier to control in the event of engine failure as well.
Heh heh heh heh heh.
It is.....and an OVERWEIGHT one...the Aibus co already fired a VP and is frantically substituting composites for major components to reduce weight.
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