[Happy2BMe]

Airbus unveils its superjumbo, European leaders hail lead over US

[Happy2BMe]

FedEx is right there in the smack of it . .

[dfwgator]

What did Kruschev say that one time, something about "burying us."

[Reaganesque]

One minor detail they seem to be overlooking is that this jet is so big that many major airports around the world are not equipped to handle something that large. It will cost millions in rennovations per airport to accomodate this jet. Bit of a drawback, I'd say.

[Dr Snide]

how many bombs does that thing hold?

no military, no power.

Go back to your whine and cheese euro-trash wannabes.

[Max Combined]

I hope it turns out to be a skunk.

[dbehsman]

From the article:
"Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Europe was "unstoppable" when it pooled its efforts."

Good God. America put men on the moon over three decades ago. Europe still hasn't gotten around to it. All these losers do is make a big pregnant 747, and they think they're on top of the world. Pathetic.

[Arpege92]

"The European states -- so easily accused of weakness -- backed this fantastic challenge 35 years ago."

Wait a minute here....The European states are now strong because it took them 35 years to get this puppy made? LOL ooooooooooooooo.....I'm so scared!

[RobRoy]

So, how many pre-orders do they have?

[Wake75]

leaders of France, Britain, Germany and Spain hailed Europe's victory over the United States as the new king of the commercial skies.

Victory? They've eclipsed an aircraft introduced in 1970.

[garyhope]

Excuse me if I don't want to fly on a plane with 839 other people.

I'm a free market capitalist, but I think America should start subsidizing Boeing and undercutting Airbus prices and then see where the market is.

[ArGee]

While I congratulate Airbus on manufacturing this behemoth I'm not sure what it says about "Old Europe" that we didn't already know. Aircraft have been around for over 50 years. They built a bigger one. So what? (As an aside, I notice the report didn't state the runway requirement for this thing. Long landing requirements hurt the 747.)

Innovation would do more to show the strength of "Old Europe" than taking an American invention and making it bigger. The Soviet Union could do that.

Shalom.

[quadrant]

It is one terrible shame, but the US aircraft industry is heading down the toilet just like the shipbuilding, textile, steel making, auto manufacturing, and electronics industries.

[Modernman]

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.

More likely, the airlines will stuff as many people as possible into these planes in order to increase profits. Forget the gyms, bedrooms and bars.

[Proud2BeRight]

Just think of the fun of waiting for your baggage when that behemoth lands.

And, how do 800 passengers evacuate in an emergency

[oldleft]

This is a boondoggle. It's not market driven at all. A few subsidized airlines may pick up some of these behemoths, but if market forces are allowed to work I don't see much use for a gas guzzling inflexible plane over a fleet of smaller, fuel efficient, flexible planes.

[Proud2BeRight]

Any American airline that buys one of these beasts should look for their next financial bailout from Europe, not me.

[foofoopowder]

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?

[Shortwave]

In case they forget. God bless those poor souls.

[garyhope]

This has nothing to do with AirBus, but how and why do winglets work and what do they do?

[Hoboto]

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!