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Without any real data, just an engineering intuition, I didn't think it would fly. I thought it would be similar to the Spruce Goose. But apparently it did have a first flight, didn't it, a few months ago?

Airbus sold enough planes to commit the A380 to production. Boeing didn't sell any of the 747X that was to compete with it a couple years ago so that's when they went to the Sonic Cruiser. From an American point of view, I hope the A380 flops. But I haven't heard anything about it lately. I know most airports have to rebuild some structures to accomodate the big plane, so it won't be able to land at very many airports in this country. I can't see them filling up the plane to 100%capacity in this country either. I think Singapore Air was its first customer.

Just curious if you had any more information about it.

Airbus A380 vs Boeing 747

On January 18 the Airbus A380 was officially revealed in a ceremony in Toulouse, France. The A380 represents one of the largest European industrial projects ever, and replaces the Boeing 747 as the world's largest airliner. Table 1 compares the Airbus A380-800 to the Boeing 747-400ER.

**Table 1:** Jumbos compared. Sources: Airliners.net, Wikipedia.
Dimensions
	Airbus A380-800	Boeing 747-400ER
Length	72.8 m	70.7 m
Height	24.1 m	19.4 m
Wingspan	79.8 m	64.4 m
Wing area	845 m²	541 m²
Cabin width	6.58 m	6.10 m
Weights
Operating empty	277,000 kg	181,755 kg
MTOW	540,000 kg	362,875 kg
Powerplants
No. engines	4 turbofans	4 turbofans
Max engine thrust	374 kN (84,000 lb)	276 kN (62,000 lb)
Performance
Cruising speed	902 km/h	907 km/h
Max speed	945 km/h	939 km/h
Range	14,800 km	14,205 km
Capacity
Flightcrew	2	2
Seating (typical)	555	416 (23/78/315)
Seating (max)	840	568
Cargo	N/A	137-158.6 m
Note the difference in the Max TakeOff Weight MTOW as opposed to the disparity in engine total thrust. Like you my engineering intuition says this will be a problem.